Geraint Thomas earned the praise of former Olympic champion Chris Boardman after the Welshman’s bid for gold at Rio ended in a roadside gutter.
Thomas crashed out of the men’s road race on Saturday night, although he was able to remount and finished as the best placed British rider in 11th place in a race won by Belgium’s Greg van Avermaet.
Thomas is scheduled to ride the time trial, but after needing hospital treatment his participation is now in doubt.
The Team Sky rider made it into the decisive break on the penultimate lap and was joined by compatriot Adam Yates and several other riders. Yates was dropped on the final climb but Thomas crashed on the last descent.
Pre-race favourite Chris Froome finished in twelfth place. The Tour de France winner was marked by several favourites and was unable to go on the attack when Vincenzo Nibali and Fabio Aru (Italy) led a group up to Thomas’ break before the final ascent.
Froome did attack on the final climb but was already a minute down on the leaders. Yates crossed the line in 15th. Steve Cummings and Ian Stannard, who both worked for the team in the first half of the race, abandoned before the final 60 kilometres of racing.
Boardman, who won an Olympic gold medal in the individual pursuit in Barcelona in 1992, and took bronze in Altanta in the time trial four years later, said Great Britain rode a tactically smart race but just did not have the legs at the end of the race.
“We did not win a medal because ultimately we did not have the legs for it but, tactically, that was the best Olympic road race I have seen from the British team, so hats off to them,” he told BBC.
“Thomas did a phenomenal job, the whole team did. Britain’s best rider was expected to be Froome but for me Thomas would have been the better sprinter if it had come to that.”
British coach Rod Ellingworth said: “Looking at Geraint there he was proper, proper disappointed. He knew that was a proper gold medal chance.
“He’s all right. He’s fallen heavy, he’s got plenty of skin off, but he’s okay, I think.
“I knew from the test event that descent was going to perhaps be a deciding factor in the race. And it was.
“When you think about how many riders crashed round there it was pretty mad really.”