Britain's reigning time trialist, 20-year-old Josh Tarling, was not afraid to say he was aiming for gold in his first career Olympic appearance until he suffered the misfortune of a flat front wheel.

After changing bikes early in the race, Tarling regrouped and finished fourth, 27 seconds behind Paris Olympic men's time trial winner Remco Evenpole (Belgium). He was only two seconds behind the podium and the bronze medal won by Wout Van Aert (Belgium).

“I don't know,” Tarling replied. I think it was hard to get back into a rhythm, to calm down, to stop thinking. It would have been hard to catch up.”

He was not about to hypothetically say that he might have won without the puncture, but congratulated the medal winners, including Ineos Grenadiers teammate Filippo Ganna.

“No, I think everyone who won a medal deserves it. I think I ran a good enough pace after the puncture and still won,” Tarling said.

On the technical 32.4 km course out and back of Paris, the riders faced a wet and slippery surface. 30th out of 34 riders leaving the start ramp in Ambaride, Tarling rode at a good pace until a stop for a bike change, where he had to fight the mental pressure and had to fight the wet conditions.

“I hit some bumps and felt the rim and had to change before the corner.

“It's easy to flap and panic. But the car did a really good job of keeping me quiet and calm.

“[The conditions] were tough. After we stopped, I couldn't see well because my visor was steaming.

Tarling was 13 seconds off the pace at the first intermediate time check and continued to lose time, finishing in 36:39.

He was not surprised that world champion Evenpole won, even though the Belgian had told him a few days earlier that he could not get out of bed.

“I don't blame him. He had a great tour. He's a very classy rider and nobody can come close to him at the moment,” Tarling said.

The next focus will be on the 273-km men's road race on Saturday, August 3.

“We'll take tonight off, get back to the road race as soon as possible, and forget about today.”

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