Simmonds and Dowsett out of the medals as Van Dijk and Campenarts sparkle in the rain

If road cyclist Hayley Simmonds has learned one thing from her time in Glasgow, it’s to never trust the weather forecast. The 30-year-old woke up for her early morning European Championship time trial expecting bright sunshine on Wednesdaybutfacedanything but – a shower putting an early dampener on proceedings on the road.

But the two-time national champion was never going to throw in the towel.

Consistency proved the order of the day as Simmonds, who has struggled with injury this season, finished in eighth place in a time of 44:07 as Ellen van Dijk, pictured, of the Netherlands won (41:39), edging out compatriot Anna van der Breggen (41:41). Trixi Worrack of Germany finished third.

“Iwasprobablymore cautious than I needed to be,” Simmonds said.

“I broke my elbow at the women’s Tour de France seven-and-a-half weeks ago and had surgery.

“I looked at the weather forecast and it said dry, but I’ve learnt from my three days up here that you kind of ignore what it says and assume it is going to rain. “That proved to be the case and it started hammering it down when I was finishing my warm-up.

Alex Dowsett finished as the leading Brit in the men’s event.

The 29-year-old also took to the roads in rainy conditions on an unfavourable surface but put in a starring role to finish fifth in the men’s race, stopping the clock in 54:13.84 as he crossed the line on Glasgow Green.

That was more than 30 seconds behind eventual winner Victor Campenarts of Belgium (53:38), the favourite who won the same race 12 months ago in Herning, Denmark. He took