Zijlaard completes golden treble

Zijlaard propels herself to her third gold

Leontien Zijlaard of the Netherlands claimed her third gold medal of the Games when she sped to victory in the women's cycling time trial.

The win followed golds in the 3000m pursuit on the track and in the road race last Tuesday.

She showed few signs of fatigue as she covered two circuits of the course, a total of 31.2 km, in 42 minutes at a speed of 44.56kph.

She finished 37 seconds ahead of American Mari Holden with Jeannie Longo of France grabbing bronze, five seconds behind Holden.

It's unbelievable considering I had bad legs and a dry throat

  Leontien Zijlaard

Zijlaard was the natural favourite for the time trial, having retained the world time trial title in Treviso last year, but had doubted her chances on such a winding circuit.

"This exceeds all my dreams," the 27-year-old said.

"It's unbelievable, particularly as I had bad legs and a dry throat. Maybe the rest were worse off than me."

Holden, who topped the leaderboard until Zijlaard sped home, was content with the silver as consolation for her misery in Tuesday's road race, when she crashed out on rain-slicked roads.

Poor conditions

But Bronze medallist Longo was not happy with the conditions she had to race in.

"The Olympic Games is a tough cycling race. The conditions are perhaps not as good as for other races," the 41-year-old told a press conference after the race.

Longo felt the course had been badly prepared and the road not swept well enough.

"It's not the world championships here," she told reporters. "As a cyclist you don't get the impression you count very much."