Nicole Mitchell, the Bermuda cyclist, finished the women’s individual time-trial in a respectable 21st position out of 32 riders at the Commonwealth Games today.

Mitchell completed the challenging 30-kiliometre course, starting and finishing in Glasgow Green, in a time of 48min 33.06sec, which was 6:07.60 behind the winner, Linda Villumsen, of New Zealand.

The 31-year-old’s time was the second-quickest in the “imaginary league” of Caribbean competitors that the Bermuda Bicycle Association created as a gauge to measure the success of its riders.

“It took me a little while to get going, as you’re sitting around for quite some time waiting to start,” said Mitchell, who travelled at an average speed of 36.58mph.

“Time-trial is something that I’ve put a lot of emphasis on recently because coming from a small country you have to be well rounded, as we can’t field big teams.

“I felt my mental preparation was very good and I managed to keep my nerves at bay.

“I certainly left it all out there, which is all you can really do.”

Mitchell said that the short, steep little hills on the way out of Glasgow Green provided a particularly gruelling start to the course, described as “quite free flowing, but with hardly flat” by its designer, Alasdair Maclennan.

The pouring rain at the beginning of the race that continued to drizzle intermittently throughout would have hardly made negotiating the cluster of corners any easier.

“It was a very challenging course with lots of corners, so it was hard to get into a good steady rhythm,” said Mitchell, who works at Ariel Re, the reinsurer.

“You’re climbing, descending or going around a roundabout and that makes for one tough course.”

With the chasers setting off at one-minute intervals, Mitchell, who went out as the ninth rider, wasted little time in hauling in three of the four riders ahead of her.

“Once I got going I felt pretty good and I overtook my one-minute, two-minute and three-minute girls,” she said.

“Of course I got passed by a few girls as well, but it’s always a good sign when you’re catching one of the girls in front of you because you know you have gained a minute.”

Villumsen, who won in a time of 42:25.46 finished second in the time-trial at the previous Commonwealth Games in New Delhi in 2010, and second in the World Championship time-trials in 2011 and 2013.