High-tech cyclist Armstrong wins time trial

BEIJING (Reuters) - High-tech training paid off for American cyclist Kristin Armstrong who won the women's Olympic time trial on Wednesday after using a GPS device to recreate the tough course at home.

Armstrong clocked 34 minutes 51.72 seconds, a shade over 24 seconds ahead of Britain's Emma Pooley with silver and almost a minute clear of Switzerland's Karin Thurig in third.

Although the cyclists were spaced two minutes apart in the 23.5-km race against the clock, Armstrong passed two riders -- the last one about 100 meters from the finish -- as she raced her way to a gold medal.

Armstrong, who celebrated her 35th birthday two days ago, was second to Pooley at the halfway point and said she did not even realize she had won the race when she crossed the finish line.

"You cannot give up until you cross that finish line," said Armstrong, the 2006 world champion in the time trial and a pre-race favorite in the event in Beijing.

"I didn't even expect to see that I was ahead until I crossed the finish line and still at that point I didn't know. I couldn't celebrate until the last person crossed the finish line." said Armstrong, who burst into tears when she realized she had won and who cried on the podium as the national anthem played.

At the finish Armstrong was also hugged and congratulated by veteran French cyclist Jeannie Longo, who at 49 is competing in her seventh Olympics and just missed a medal by two seconds.

Tech-savvy Armstrong had prepared for the race by training on a similar course at home in Boise, Idaho.

During a test event on the course in Beijing last year, she captured the route on a global positioning system device then laid it out on Google maps and plotted as similar a ride as possible at home.

The weather, which played a major role in the women's 126-km road race on Sunday as cyclists had to navigate on slippery roads during torrential downpours, cooperated for the time trial.

"It was not so hot today as I had feared," said Pooley, who also noted there were not many spectators on the road. "I just concentrated on doing my ride and enjoyed it as much as I could. It was a pleasure to ride -- like riding at home in training."

Pooley, who was the fifth rider to start, was at the top of the leaderboard for most of the race until Armstrong powered home.

In the time trial, the women completed one lap of the hilly circuit between the Great Wall's Badaling and Juyongguan sections.

(additional reporting by Francois Thomazeau; editing by Miles Evans)