Mark Cavendish failed to land Great Britain's first medal of the Olympic Games as Alexandre Vinokourov of Kazakstan raced to victory in the men's road race.

The Brit was bidding to deliver the first success of the Games for Team GB but he was never really in with a chance after falling well behind the leading group as he eventually finished in 28th place.

Cavendish was unable to launch an attack on the breakaway pack as his team-mates struggled to reel in the leaders in the 250km race that finished on The Mall.

Vinokourov impressed throughout and was able to sprint clear of Colombia's Rigoberto Uran, while Norways's Alexander Kristoff was able to breakaway from the pack to land the bronze medal.

Mark Cavendish
Mark Cavendish fails to land a medal in road race Reuters

Cavendish refused to blame him team-mates as Tour de France champion Bradley Wiggins and runner-up Chris Froome both struggled with the pace and were unable to provide him with a launchpad to challenge the leaders.

"We rode the exact race we wanted to ride," Cavendish told BBC Radio 5 live. "We controlled it with four guys for 250 km and we couldn't do any more. We are human beings. We got around the circuit in pretty good nick.

"There was a group of 22 who got away and we couldn't pull them back. The four guys who ran all day couldn't do it.

"The Germans came a bit too late and the other teams seemed to be more content that they wouldn't win as long as we didn't win. That's kind of how it goes.

"I can be proud of how the lads rode today. I'm proud of my country because there was incredible support. The guys are sat there, they are spent. They have got nothing left in the tank. It's incredible to see what they gave for the cause."

Vinkourov is due to retire after the Games after only returning to the sport after receiving a two-year ban for testing positive for blood doping after the 2007 Tour de France.

There was some good news on day one as 400m swimmer Hannah Miley qualified for the finals after winning her heat in a time of 4:34:98 ahead of defending champion Stephanie Rice of Australia.

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