Grace Brown of Australia wins the Olympic time trial over the rainy, treacherous streets of Paris

Paris, Jul 27 (AP) Grace Brown of Australia won the women's Olympic time trial on the wet, treacherous streets of Paris on Saturday, safely staying upright on her bike even as American favourite Chloe Dygert and many of her biggest rivals kept hitting the deck.

Brown stopped the clock in 39 minutes, 38.24 seconds in a dominant performance in the first cycling event of the Summer Games.

Anna Henderson of Britain finished 1:31 back in second while Dygert, the reigning time trial world champion, remounted after crashing hard on a left-hand turn and claimed bronze.

The riders set off in the drizzle in 90-second intervals from the great gilded dome of Les Invalides on the 32.4-kilometer (20-mile) route, marking the first time the women and men covered the same distance in an Olympic time trial.

Juliette Labous of France, cheered on by the home nation, finished just out of the medals in fourth. Demi Vollering was fifth for the Netherlands, which claimed the gold and bronze medals in the race at the Tokyo Games. (AP) AYG