Cycling: Linda Villumsen adds silver to Commonwealth Games medal collection

Linda Villumsen of New Zealand poses after winning the silver medal. Photo / Getty

Linda Villumsen has claimed her third Commonwealth Games medal in the time trial, adding silver to her collection after a solid ride on the Gold Coast.

While the 33-year-old couldn't defend her Glasgow gold, she was hardly expected to, with Australia's Katrin Garfoot utterly dominating the entire field to romp to victory by 54.92 seconds.

Instead, Villumsen rode well, complementing her silver medal from Delhi with a comfortable second-place showing in a race which largely went by the form guide for all the favourites.

Villumsen saw off England's Hayley Simmonds by 19.08 seconds, with Simmonds comfortably claiming bronze in a diluted field lacking real contenders for the eventual trio of medalists.

Scotland's Katie Archibald finished in fourth – two minutes down on Garfoot, while New Zealand's Rushlee Buchanan performed credibly to finish in fifth, 2.31 back from gold, and 1.17 down on the podium.

New Zealand's Linda Villumsen competes in the Women's Individual Time Trial. Photo / Greg Bowker

With the race just 25.5 kilometres long, any early time gains proved pivotal, and Garfoot's gold was on the cards from the opening kilometres. She opened up a 14 second lead through the first 10 kilometres, and then made the most of the course's difficult climb, taking 32 seconds on Villumsen over the next 10 kilometres.

While Villumsen was never likely to hang with the Australian's time on the climb, she powered through on the flatter portions, riding home in second place, and adding another medal to her collection.

Villumsen conceded that Garfoot was the better rider, and was content with silver.

"You always come to win, that's obviously the main goal, but when the winner is someone better than you then you have to be happy with what you get – I'm happy with the silver.

"The right person won."