Roglič had harboured hopes of winning the Tour de France last month after ending as the runner-up in 2020, but saw his hopes dashed by a series of crashes in the opening week.

His withdrawal from the event came as the 31-year-old’s focus shifted to the Olympics.

Roglič, selected for the time trial over compatriot Tadej Pogačar, impressed on the 44.2 kilometres course which featured several sections of climbing.

He completed the first lap of the course with the fastest time, eight seconds faster than the returning Dutch cyclist Tom Dumoulin.

Roglič’s advantage increased in the second lap as he rode to the finish in a winning time of 55min 4.19sec.

“For me, it was just nothing to lose,” Roglič said.

“I went on block from the start, and I just fight for every place.

“I just went all in and I didn't care.

“For me, it was just giving 150 per cent.

“I was just super happy that I finally was finished, I was over the finish line and then the rest tell me how fast I was.”

Dumoulin, who took a break from the sport to focus on his mental health, claimed the silver medal.

The 2017 Giro d’Italia winner finished 1:01.39 behind the winner.

A closely contested battle for the medals saw second to fifth place separated by just four seconds.

Australia’s Rohan Dennis, the two-time world champion, earned the bronze medal in 56:08.09.

Switzerland’s Stefan Kung and Italy’s Filippo Ganna missed out on the podium places in fourth and fifth places.

The pair finished in times of 56:08.49 and 56:09.93, respectively.

Annemiek van Vleuten clinched an elusive Olympic gold medal after a dominant ride in the women’s individual time trial event at the Fuji International Speedway today.

The Dutch cyclist has had misfortune at the Olympic Games having crashed when leading the Rio 2016 road race, before celebrating gold three days ago, only to discover she had, in fact, finished as the runner-up to Austria’s Anna Kiesenhofer.

Van Vleuten’s first Olympic title never seemed in doubt in the time trial, after posting the fastest time at the three time checks on the 22.1-kilometre course.

The opening time check gave an indication The Netherlands would secure their second gold medal of Tokyo 2020, having won one in rowing earlier in the day, as van Vleuten came through the uphill section in 14:24.58sec at 9.7km.

Australia’s Grace Brown was closest to van Vleuten at the time check at six seconds down, but the gap increased over the remainder of the event.

Van Vleuten’s advantage grew to nearly 30 seconds at the 15km time check and was over one minute by the finish.

The 38-year-old crossed the line in a time of 30:13.49 to set the fastest time.

Van Vleuten watched her remaining five rivals fail to challenge the time, allowing her to finally celebrate winning an Olympic title. 

Switzerland’s Marlen Reusser finished strongly to claim the silver medal, after coming through the second time check in fifth place.

The World Championship silver medallist finished 56.47 seconds adrift of the winner’s time.

The Netherlands' defending champion Anna van der Breggen was left settling for the bronze medal in 31:15.12, ending four seconds behind Reusser.

The Dutch cyclist had been involved in a bizarre incident in the build-up to the race, after being pulled from her bike yesterday by a Japanese official when seeking to train on the time trial course.

Van der Breggen was unhurt in the incident with the Japanese official, who had not been aware she was part of the Olympic Games, reportedly offering dozens of apologies.

Brown had been the second fastest rider through the two intermediate time checks on the course, but the Australian faded in the closing stages to finish fourth in a time of 31:22.22.