Australian time trial ace Rohan Dennis has stayed out of trouble to win his first Commonwealth Games gold medal.
His key rival, Welshman Geraint Thomas, crashed only two minutes into his ride on the technical 37.4km course at Wolverhampton.
England's Dan Bigham also came to grief, his bike entangled in a roadside barrier, while New Zealander Aaaron Gate rode into a barrier after he finished.
Dennis clocked 46 minutes 21.24 seconds to win, 26 seconds ahead of England's Fred Wright and 28 seconds ahead of Thomas.
Earlier on Thursday, Australian Grace Brown won the women's time trial.
Normally it is Dennis with the mishaps in major time trials - at the Rio Olympics, his hopes of a medal were dashed when a handlebar part snapped and he finished fifth.
The men's Games time trial gold medal should have been a head-to-head between Dennis and Thomas, the 2018 Tour de France winner who finished an impressive third in last month's edition.
But once Thomas crashed and lost at least a minute, Dennis was in the box seat and he rode a flawless time trial..
Fellow Australian Luke Plapp had his chances of a strong result cruelled at Wolverhampton when he had a mechanical problem and had a slow bike change because he was close to another rider.
"I was all-in today, I was willing to put it on the line and I wanted the fastest equipment," Plapp said.
"I took the fastest lines I could and unfortunately there were potholes - my chain came off, it got jammed.
"Once I knew I had to swap bikes it's pretty much over from there - you need a perfect run to get even close to these guys coming from behind me."
Plapp, who started in the earlier of the two groups in the men's event, still finished fifth at 2:26.
