Puncture shakes Bond

A deflated Hamish Bond has experienced a frustrating UCI Road World Championships debut, unable to show his full potential after a puncture cost him precious seconds in the men’s time trial in Bergen, Norway, yesterday.

The 31-year-old former rowing star completed the 31km course in 48min 14.92sec to finish 39th out of 64 starters and 3min 33sec back from winner, Dutch star Tom Dumoulin.

Dumoulin, the Giro d’Italia champion and a member of the Sunweb team that took out the team time trial on the opening day of the world championships, beat second-place getter Primoz Roglic by 57.79sec. Chris Froome finished third, 1min 21.25sec slower.

Bond was 16th fastest on the first lap when he punctured, and dropped to 44th at the mid-race time check. Despite recovering to claw himself back up to 39th, it was still not the outcome he had hoped for.

‘‘You try and deliver a clinical, smooth race and the puncture threw everything out the window. I tried but it threw me off my game,’’ Bond said.

‘‘It was out of my control but something I prided myself on in my rowing career was getting those things right and executing on race day. Regardless of if it was my fault or ill-luck, it was disappointing not to be able to show what I was capable of.’’

With the roads damp after morning rain, Bond said he went over a small piece of debris in his racing line around a corner, and the front tyre blew instantly on one of the fastest parts of the course.

‘‘I was pleased with how I pushed after I got back on. I possibly tried to over-compensate for the puncture for the rest of the flatter part of the circuit and suffered a bit on the climb trying to make up for the lost time.’’