Cyclist Bobby Lea can hold his head high after improving on his last Olympic results inside the Velodrome. The Topton, Pa. native finished 12th out of 18 riders in the Men’s Omnium event.
Lea, 29, posted a score of 61 overall points in the six-race event where the fewest points win. His best finish was seventh in Sunday’s 15-kilometer Scratch Race. His best first-day finish was eighth in the Elimination Race.
Lea actually had a chance to break the Top 10 entering the final event -- 1KM Time Trial -- but he finished 13th failing to catch Spain’s Eloy Teruel Rovira (14th in the final event). Lea’s late swoon also allowed Colombia’s Juan Esteban Arango Carvajal (seventh in the last event) and South Korea’s Hosung Cho (eighth in the last event) to jump ahead of him in the total standings.
WATCH: 1KM Time Trial
Denmark’s Lasse Norman Hansen took home gold in the event with 27 points. France’s Bryan Coquard won silver while Great Britain’s Edward Clancy pedaled his way to bronze.
Lea thanked everyone Sunday for their support:
“Pulled out my best stuff today, but wasn't quite enough to hold onto 10th. So close! Thank you all for the great support. Means a lot to me,” he tweeted.
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The 12th-place finish was an improvement for Lea after he placed 16th in the Madison at the 2008 Olympics.
