Phinney and Bookwalter finish 22nd and 23rd in Olympic time trial

Taylor Phinney left it all on course for 22nd in the men's TT

August 10, 2016 (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) – Taylor Phinney (Boulder, Colo.) and Brent Bookwalter (Asheville, N.C.) were 22^nd and 23^rd for the USA in the men’s time trial as the road cycling portion of the Olympic Games concluded on Wednesday.

Fabian Cancellara (SUI) posted the fastest time on the wet course, finishing in 1:12:15 over the 54.5 kilometers to win the gold medal while Tom Dumoulin (NED) and Chris Froome (GBR) earned silver and bronze.

Bookwalter suffered a tough crash early in his race, but got back up and gave it his all on the wet course to cross the line with a time of 1:17.57, five minutes and 42 seconds off of Cancellara’s winning pace.

“It was a real tough hit right off the start, one of those things that just happens when we’re riding that edge. I went through that corner visually in my mind a bunch, went through it yesterday and thought I had it down but it was a little different in reality today with the wet. I lost my front wheel so I hit pretty hard,” Bookwalter explained. “I basically just got up, made sure I was OK, and tried to restart my race and still do the race the best I could. If it was any other race I might have just given up or said enough is enough, but it’s the Olympics and I have the USA on my back.”

Phinney finished five minutes and ten seconds off the winning pace for 22^nd place.

Brent Bookwalter suffered a crash in the men's TT but got back up and rode to 23rd

“I am happy with how my left leg felt. I didn’t even think of it at all as something that was impeding my performance today which was a beautiful thing, something I haven’t been able to feel for a long time,” Phinney said. “I am motivated to do what I can over the next four years to continue to grow.”

The men’s time trial was the final event for Team USA’s road cycling team. Earlier on Wednesday, Kristin Armstrong (Boise, Idaho) earned her third straight Olympic gold medal in the time trial and on Sunday, Mara Abbott (Boulder, Colo.) barely missed the podium with a fourth-place result in the women’s road race.

COMING UP NEXT

Track cycling is next up for Olympic cyclists. The first event on the agenda for Team USA will be the team pursuit qualification round on Thursday featuring Kelly Catlin (Arden Hills, Minn.), Chloe Dygert (Brownsburg, Ind.), Sarah Hammer (Colorado Springs, Colo.), and Ruth Winder (Lafayette, Calif./UnitedHealthcare).

FOLLOW and WATCH

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This Article Updated August 10, 2016 @ 07:07 PM For more information contact: