Evenepoel tops Italian rival Ganna, Belgian countryman van Aert to win the Olympic time trial

PARIS — Remco Evenepoel and Wout van Aert are keenly aware of the expectations they carry as Belgians in the world of cycling.

There are few nations that follow the sport as passionately.

So when Evenepoel captured the gold medal in the men's time trial at the Paris Olympics on Saturday, just ahead of Italian rival Filippo Ganna, and van Aert claimed the bronze, the two countrymen shared a warm embrace at the finish line.

They were the first time trial medals for Belgium since Henri Hoevenaers won silver at the 1924 Games in Paris.

“Every time someone has some questions about us cooperating as a country or whatever, I think we always try to deliver and do our best,” said Evenepoel, who also beat Ganna by 12 seconds at the world championships last September in Scotland.

“So yeah,” he added, “it's a nice moment to share together.”

Evenepoel traversed the wet, slick course in 36 minutes, 12.16 seconds, before breaking down in tears. The recent winner of a time trial in the Tour de France, he finished nearly 15 seconds ahead of Ganna and 25 seconds ahead of Van Aert.

“Hopefully it's a kickstart for all the other Belgian athletes to follow us and win as many medals as possible,” van Aert said.

Josh Tarling was fourth but in brutally disappointing fashion. The two-time British time trial champion had a punctured tire and needed to change his bike, and the time he lost likely cost him a medal. He was 2.16 seconds out of third place.

“There’s not a lot I could do. I felt the front wheel get spongy, and then I felt the rim, and I was like, ‘Oh I’ve got to change the bike as quick as I can before the corner and try and just settle back down,’” he said. "But it was hard to get back in the rhythm.”

Brandon McNulty gave the American contingent a solid fifth-place finish after Chloe Dygert took bronze in the women's race.

The field of 35 men set off in a drizzle in 90-second intervals from Les Invalides about 15 minutes after the conclusion of the women’s time trial. And they were no doubt aware of the dangers lurking on every wet corner after watching Dygert and many other top riders slip to the pavement and watch their gold medal hopes wash away.

The route was designed to honor some of the great French cyclists. It went through Bois de Vincennes park, where two-time Tour de France winner Laurent Fignon trained, and past Vélodrome Jacques Anquetil, named for the five-time Tour winner.

But it was the streets that grabbed the attention of some of the riders. Evenepoel dropped an expletive after a training ride to describe some of the rough surfaces, and the 32.4-kilometer (20-mile) course past such iconic sights as Place de la Bastille was made more hazardous by rain that began before Friday night’s opening ceremony and continued through Saturday.

Magnus Sheffield of the U.S. was among the riders left to pick themselves off the pavement in the men’s race.

Van Aert was unperturbed by the rain, though. He stuck with a rare and aggressive setup featuring front and back disc wheels — notoriously difficult to control even in the best conditions — in the hopes of an aerodynamic advantage. And it seemed to pay off as the reigning Olympic road race silver medalist set the early time to beat.

Tarling was giving chase but lost precious seconds when his punctured tired forced him into a bike change.

Evenepoel and Ganna, the last two off the start ramp, began taking more aggressive lines as they neared the finish at the gold-tipped Pont Alexandre III bridge. At one point, Ganna nearly crashed into the steel barriers guarding the right side of the course, and the Italian track cycling star fought to keep his wobbling bike underneath him.

Yet nobody was the equal of Evenepoel, who long ago made it clear that the Olympic time trial was this year's goal.

“I just pushed flat-out on the straights, always. I don't know where I made the biggest difference,” he said. “I had the time gaps but it wasn't super clear. It was only the last kilometer that I knew I was going to win. There, I knew it was enough.”