Yates in top 10 as Carapaz makes history

Tour star triumphs while Brit’s podium hopes wilt in the Tokyo heat

- Vern Pitt

Adam Yates put in a solid ride to gain a top-10 place in the Olympic road race but there was nothing he, or anyone else, could do to stop a rampaging Richard Carapaz, who soloed to gold.

The Ecuadorian came into the race with minimal support from his small nation’s federation both on the bike and away from it. But he didn’t need it, going away first with Brandon McNulty of the USA and then later on his own to take Ecuador’s first Olympic gold in 24 years.

At the finish Carapaz said: “It gives me a lot of satisfaction. I have worked very hard, and then it works out in a way that makes history for me and for my country. My little ones are still awake, they are in Spain. And my parents in Ecuador must be very happy.”

Behind, Yates tried to launch a long-range sprint for silver in a bid to defeat the faster Wout van Aert but admitted he simply “didn’t have the legs” and rolled in in ninth. It was still the best result by a British man at the Olympic road race since Roger Hammond was seventh in Athens in 2004.