Emma Pooley came face to face with an old sporting adage in the cycling time trial.

A good big 'un nearly always beats a good little 'un.

In Pooley's case it was a case of five big 'uns as the slightly-built 29-year-old from Wandsworth came sixth, behind gold medal winner Kristin Armstrong of America, in the women's time trial on a course starting and finishing at Hampton Court which was anything but up Pooley's street.

Pooley, who weighs in at just 7st 8lbs, had not radiated confidence right from the start, even though she came home from Beijing with a silver medal four years ago.

The Hampton Court route simply did not suit her petite body type. In other words there were no inclines of any note to give her a leg-up against gravity in comparison to her beefier opponents.

You would have thought the London cycling organisers could have organised a hill or two for its best woman climber, wouldn't you?

Perhaps not. It is not very British, is it? After all, didn't Wimbledon slow down the courts and the balls just when Tim Henman was emerging as one of the best serve-and-volleyers in tennis?

Pooley, however, is a woman who gets on with the task at hand, regardless of the disadvantages, and she started superbly, in fourth place after the first nine-kilometre split, just one second outside the medals.

Then the power girls kicked in.

They call the time trial "the race of truth" and on the fast, rolling roads of Surrey in the end it came down to the woman with muscle who wanted it most which happened to be the remarkable Armstrong.

The 38-year-old American, who weighs in almost two stones heavier than Pooley, was the champion in Beijing four years ago.

She has retired and given birth to a son since then before deciding to return specifically for this moment in London.

What is it about these Olympics?

Great Britain's Mary King won silver yesterday in the equestrian team eventing at the age of 51.

Now Armstrong has shown the youngsters the way in a race demanding power, athletic prowess and total focus.

Germany's Judith Arndt, 36, took silver and Russia's Olga Zabelinskaya, 32, the bronze, while Britain's 23-year-old Lizzie Armitstead, who took silver in the road race, came 10th.

It was definitely a day weighted in favour of power and experience.