By PA Sport Staff

Britain's main medal hope, Max Sciandri, was left trailing in the wake of German strongman Jan Ullrich as the former Tour de France winner outgunned the rest of the field to win the men's Olympic road race.

Sciandri and John Tanner were the only Britons to finish the punishing five-and-a-half-hour race on Wednesday as the sweltering conditions in Sydney took their toll on some of the world's leading riders.

Even two-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong suffered in the heat, the American only managing 13th place, just ahead of a group of 30 riders containing Sciandri and Tanner who all finished 1.38 minutes adrift.

Sciandri, the bronze medallist in Atlanta four years ago, was hoping to be among the leaders going into the final lap of 14 in the 239 km race, but was caught out by a breakaway led by Ullrich on the penultimate lap and eventually finished 35th, with Tanner just behind in 38th.

"He (Ullrich) is so strong, it's incredible," Sciandri said. "I was in the right place with a couple of laps to go and the guys did their best to help me, but we just weren't good enough. It was a strange course but the legs were just not there at the end."

Doncaster-based Tanner was also in awe of Ullrich, the 1997 Tour de France winner and current world time-trial champion, who edged out Deutsche Telekom team-mates, Alexandre Vinokourov of Kazakhstan, and compatriot Andreas Kloeden, into silver and bronze respectively.

"It was definitely a strongman's course and the strongest man won," said Tanner. "We started off strongly but it just got faster and faster. It was really hard out there in that heat.

"But I am quite pleased, as it was the first time I have raced against these top guys this year. I was staying with Max and trying to help him as much as possible, but with three laps to go he got away with the chasing group and it was just survival after that."

Mountain-biker Nick Craig, riding in the absence of David Millar, who is concentrating on Saturday's time trial, was a prominent figure in the leading pack in the early stages of the race before dropping out after seven laps as intended, while Jeremy Hunt failed to finish.

"They were all working for Max and generally speaking they managed to carry our plan through," explained Britain's head coach Ken Matheson.

"Nick did really well and rode flat out on the climb on lap five as Max asked him to, but he paid for it shortly afterwards."

The unfortunate Rob Hayles didn't make it past the second lap as his eventful Olympics ended in further disappointment with a second crash of the Games.

The Stockport-based rider, who was also sent sprawling on the final lap of the track Madison event when poised for a medal, crashed into a barrier as he attempted to negotiate the sharp descent to Bronte beach.

Hayles, who eventually claimed a bronze for his part in the team pursuit success but also missed out on a medal in the individual pursuit by 36/100 of a second, suffered nothing worse than "superficial cuts and bruises" but was unable to continue.

"We cleaned him up and he was a bit battered," Matheson reported. "His ego was slightly damaged as well, but then he's had to put up with that for the last couple of weeks.

"We are looking for an award for him as the unluckiest man of the Games."

A trio of riders, German Jens Voigt, Dutchman Max Van Heeswijk and Belgian Marc Wauters launched the first significant break at the end of the ninth lap, building a 31-second advantage over the chasing bunch. But the real damage was done on the penultimate lap as a group of around 20 riders split from the leading group, leaving Sciandri and Tanner in their wake.

"It was disappointing that we didn't get a top 10 finish, or even a medal, but that is the nature of road racing," added Matheson.

"Tactics play a massive part and it was no coincidence that the first three were all part of the same trade team."