Indurain golden on the bike

 ATLANTA (AP) -- Miguel Indurain made amends at the Olympics just two weeks after losing his clench on cycling's most coveted jewel, the Tour de France.
 The gold medal the Spaniard earned Saturday by winning the men's time trial, however, was a poor consolation prize to the yellow jersey he had held for five consecutive years as Tour champion.
 "The Tour de France is historic," he said. "This is different."
 Indurain, whose reign as Tour champion ended July 21 when he finished 11th, won the Olympics' inaugural time trial in 1 hour, 4 minutes, 5 seconds.
 Abraham Olano, also of Spain, finished 12 seconds behind Indurain for the silver, and Britain's Chris Boardman took the bronze in 1:04:36 on the 32-mile course through Atlanta.
 Russia's Zulfiya Zabriova won the women's 16-mile race in 36 minutes, 40 seconds. France's Jeannie Longgo-Ciprelli, winner of the women's road race, took the silver in exactly 37 minutes. Canada's Clara Hughes won the bronze in 37:13.
 The Americans, including Lance Armstrong, were shut out.
 Indurain, the reigning world time trial champion, said he wasn't motivated by his discouraging Tour de France performance.
 "I don't have to prove anything to anybody," he said. "I've proven myself."
 But Boardman said Indurain's triumph established anew his status as the greatest cyclist of this era.
 "Indurain makes you sick because he's actually a nice bloke, as well," Boardman said. "You can't actually work yourself up, there's no hate involved, no anger in getting motivated to try to beat him. He is a true champion."
 Indurain finished 26th in Wednesday's road race, but said he was saving energy for the time trials.
 Armstrong, America's best men's cyclist, finished sixth in 1:06:28. He was 12th in the road race.
 The United States' best women's cyclist wasn't even here.
 Rebecca Twigg quit the team last week in a dispute with national coaching director Chris Carmichael, who criticized her training methods. She was replaced by Jeanne Golay of Glenwood Springs, Colo., who became the first U.S. women's cyclist to compete in three events at one Olympics.
 Golay finished far out of medal contention all three, including 16th on Saturday.
 Still, she said, "I was proud to wear the stars and stripes at the Olympics one last time."
 For the 34-year-old Golay, it markd the end of a 16-year career that produced five medals at the world championships and nine national titles.
 Linda Brenneman, of Dana Point, Calif., was 11th in the women's race. and Steve Hegg, also of Dana Point, was 16th in the men's competition.
 In the time trial, often called "the race of truth," cyclists race alone against the clock, starting at 90-second intervals. Unlike road races, competitors aren't allowed to draft behind other riders.
 Half of the men's field of 40 racers had to ride in intermittent showers. Although the last men's group, which included the medal winners, raced under blue skies, they dealt with stifling heat and humidity.
 "I overcooked the start," Boardman said, "and overcooked is quite a good phrase."