Commonwealth Games: Villumsen nets silver, men miss medals

Adopted New Zealand cyclist Linda Villumsen was a picture of disappointment after riding to a silver medal in the women's road time trial.

Denmark-born Villumsen, who gained New Zealand citizenship in December, finished less than five seconds outside the gold won by Tara Whitten, of Canada

Whitten, 30, clocked 38 minutes 59.30 seconds over the flat, out-and-back 29km course on a stretch of motorway on the outskirts of New Delhi, good enough to beat Villumsen's 39min 04.15sec.

"Silver is good but I really wanted to win this one," Villumsen said.

"I'm a bit disappointed in myself."

Villumsen was the only highlight for New Zealand at the remote venue, with the three men later missing out on medals in their 40km event.

Jack Bauer was the best of them in eighth place, clocking 50min 48.51sec, which left him nearly 3-1/2min down on the 47min 18.66sec time of dominant Scottish winner David Millar.

Jesse Sergent, who won two silver pursuit medals on the track, was one place behind Bauer in a time of 51min 34.01sec while Gordon McCauley, a bronze medallist at the Melbourne Games four years ago, was 13th in 52min 32.60sec.

McCauley didn't expect to feature, having run himself into the ground with a gutsy ride in Sunday's road race.

Villumsen was second at the halfway point of her ride, just under 7sec down on Whitten.

She clawed back a small time chunk on the return journey but not enough to threaten the veteran world points race champion from Edmonton.

Villumsen told NZPA before the race that she wanted to win to thank her new country for opening its door to her.

The 25-year-old insisted her performance wasn't affected by a hectic schedule in recent weeks, having fully rested over the last two days.

She finished third at last month's world championships in Melbourne and was an aggressive performer in the Games women's road race on Sunday before fading to finish in the middle of the pack.

She found the course far from her liking, having predicted it would suit power cyclists such as Whitten rather than those who favour variety and technical skill.

"Some corners would be good," she said of the lonely vigil on the motorway.

"You see everybody in front but you don't know if you're losing time or gaining time. It's just a long, long time when it's that way."

England's Julia Shaw won the bronze medal, 10.22sec behind Whitten, while two other New Zealanders in the field earned top-10 finishes in the 28-strong field.

Melissa Holt was fifth, 23.66sec off gold and Alison Shanks 10th, 1min 31.41sec off the pace.

England's world champion Emma Pooley could only manage ninth in the taxing heat.