Brent Bookwalter of the BMC Racing Team rode to a runner-up finish Saturday at the USA Cycling national time trial championships, adding a silver medal to the bronze he won in the same event a year ago.

Only Tom Zirbel (Optum), a three-time silver medalist himself in the time trial, was faster over the 30.9km course that comprised two laps around the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Zirbel clocked a winning time of 38:16 while Bookwalter was 17 seconds slower and third-place finisher Nate Brown (Bontrager Cycling Team) finished 41 seconds back.

"I went out aggressively like I had planned and was a little bit down after the first lap, but I was feeling good," Bookwalter said. "So I was confident I could pull it back. I really emptied the tank and gave it everything I had on the second lap, but obviously Tom did too."

BMC Racing Team Assistant Director Jackson Stewart said Bookwalter powered his BMC timemachine TM01 to "the ride of his life" on a course that did not exactly suit him. "It was a total power course – perfect for Zirbel's weight and power," Stewart said. "Brent did all the reconnaissance and was certainly ready. We'll go after the gold (medal) just as hard on Monday in the road race."