Commonwealth Games 2022 LIVE: Geraint Thomas crashes in cycling time trial

It was silver in Glasgow 2014 for Rohan Dennis, but it looks like the Australian will secure a Commonwealth crown this afternoon – still looking strong in the Black Country sun as he nears the final miles in Wolverhampton. He has 31 seconds left on Geraint Thomas, who drives admirably after that early mistake.

The more intriguing battle could be Thomas versus Wright – the Welshman has a slight advantage, but if he starts to tire after that incident, Wright could just grab a surprise silver.

A short trip back to the Sandwell Aquatics Center where we swapped out the low board for the high board and the women’s individual 10m platform. There are 14 entrants, which means two more to cut before tonight’s final. England’s Andrea Spendolini Sirieix is ​​a promising diver and has made an excellent start, with three outstanding dives to start her qualifying round.

Team-mate Lois Toulson took bronze at the Gold Coast four years ago and should be making progress as well. We will finalize the qualifiers when they are confirmed.

Another British rider in the barrier! Dan Bigham pushed as hard as he could to stay in the medal battle, but around a sweeping right-hander got his line a little misaligned and collided with the barriers protecting a group of spectators at a stoplight. Bigham flips on his back and there is a moment of confusion as he considers whether to pick up the engine he started on or get another out of the car, and finally he rushes to the four-by-four to board a substitute climb up and down one more time.

Rohan Dennis has further increased his lead over Fred Wright through the second time control, 44 seconds ahead and well on his way to gold.

Geraint Thomas has had a good section despite those issues – he’s just slower than Dennis, 32 seconds or so behind the Australian, and apparently prefers to push through rather than be present at whatever issue was bothering him.

From bad to worse for Geraint Thomas – he gestures desperately to the car behind him, screams furiously into his radio and presumably needs help. Obviously something on his bike is bothering him, but his speed has been high so far. If he stops, it will certainly be for his medal hopes.

Dan Bigham is the fastest through the first check! He looks strong, the Englishman, technically perfect as always and he is trying to add another medal after taking silver on track in the team pursuit.

But Bigham isn’t great for long – Rohan Dennis flies! When he gets it right there are few purer sights on a time trial bike and he is more than 30 seconds off the rest of the field after 8.9km of the 37.4km track.

Here comes Geraint Thomas. What is the damage? There or there with Bigham, Aaron Gate and Fred Wright, as well as the hapless Lukas Plapp, who previously dropped out of the fight after an untimely late mechanical.

Disaster for the Welshman! Oh, an early mistake from Geraint Thomas and he goes! Thomas cornered a little too soon, overcooked the turn and slid toward the barriers trying to straighten his line.

Unfortunately, it’s a familiar story for the accident-prone rider who enjoyed a curiously incident-free tour. That almost certainly puts an end to his hopes for gold if Dennis’ legs are good – luckily he’s back on his bike, but he has about 30 seconds to make up for it.

But it would be a real surprise if both Geraint Thomas and Rohan Dennis don’t both end up on the podium. Both riders are on their way and the whole field is now on track.

Next up from the starting ramp is New Zealand’s Aaron Gate, who has been following it closely from the Lee Valley VeloPark after winning gold in individual and team pursuit during the opening weekend of these Commonwealth Games. A gold is probably out of reach here, but Gate has won national and continental time trial titles before and may have a great chance at a medal.

Scotland’s John Archibald follows Gate down, before aerodynamically obsessed Englishman Dan Bigham departs – the 30-year-old works for Ineos as a race engineer and is the holder of the British hour record. He is also the partner of Joss Lowden, who took a somewhat disappointing 12th place in the women’s time trial less than a week after the finish of the Tour de France Femmes.

Looking like a beautiful afternoon in Wolverhampton, the second group of men’s time trialists makes their way up the burgundy trails from West Park to the Black Country streets.

Fred Wright takes the leader’s seat, while lovable Londoner Lukas Plapp and Owen Doull bite the ear off next to him – presumed favorites Rohan Dennis and Geraint Thomas start in about ten minutes.