Bond would set the standard in the first of the two waves of cyclists to head out on the 38.5 kilometre course.

The New Zealander, who switched to cycling after clinching a second coxless pairs rowing gold at Rio 2016, made a steady start but climbed to the top of the standings at the midway point.

He was forced to swerve to avoid a team car and a traffic cone knocked over by a motorbike during his ride, as the 32-year-old showed the form that saw him clinch the Oceanian title two weeks ago.

Bond would take to the leader’s chair at the finish, after he crossed the line in a time of 48min 45.45sec.

The New Zealander was left watching as the second wave took to the course, headed by home favourite Meyer.

The Australian earned three gold medals on the track at Delhi 2010, but has since spent significant time on the road riding for World Tour team Orica-Scott.

Meyer would go through the midway point at 22:01.52, with England’s Harry Tanfield emerging as his closest rival at 24 seconds down.

The gap between the two would grow, as the steep climb in the centre of the course began to take its toll on Tanfield.

Tanfield proved the first man to push Bond off top spot, as he finished just 2.15 seconds faster that the New Zealand athlete.

The winner was clear from the moment Meyer entered the finishing straight, with the Australian having a comfortable cushion over Tanfield to complete the final metres.

To the delight of the home crowd, Meyer stormed across the line in a winning time of 48:13.04, a clear 30 seconds quicker than Tanfield, making up for his disappointment in missing out on a points race medal on the track two days ago.

"There's so much motivation going around after the first week with other athletes winning gold.

“I missed my target in the points race, so I did have fire in my belly going out there today, and it couldn't have gone better.

“My coach approached me two weeks because he knew I had good road-racing form.

“He sorted out a bike out for me and got all my measurements and I just thought I'd give it a crack.

“At the moment my main goal is track cycling at the Olympics, but this has definitely inspired me to do more time trial racing."

The silver medal ensured both Tanfield brothers wold leave the Games with a medal, following Charlie’s gold medal in the men’s individua pursuit event on the track.

Despite missing out silver by mere seconds, Bond claimed he had executed a “perfect race”.

He also reflected on incident with a team car, which may have cost him the silver.

"I tried to overtake someone from an African nation and the car didn't get out of the way in time,” Bond said.

“I had no time to think about it.

“I was lucky that I'd done this before.

“Even though it was less than ideal, you just have to roll with the punches.

"I'm really happy with the race.

“It has probably been my most complete race to date.

“I executed the race perfectly, I couldn't have given any more.”

The women's event saw further success for Australia, with Katrin Garfoot proving the class of the field over a shorter 25.5km course.

Garfoot would enjoy a 14 second advance at the halfway mark over second placed New Zealander Linda Villumsen, the defending champion from Glasgow 2014.

Her advantage would continue to grow as the competition progressed, leaving Garfoot as the clear victor when she crossed the line in 35:08.09, giving Australia a 12th cycling gold of the Games.

Villumsen ended 54.92 seconds off the pace, with the 2015 world champion forced to settle for silver on this occasion.

Bronze were claimed by Hayley Simmonds, with the English rider ending in 36:22.09 to complete the podium.

Her medal would have come as some relief to Commonwealth Games England, who had admitted earlier in the day that they had forgotten to add the second English rider Melissa Lowther to the start-list in time.

An appeal was lodged by the organisation, but their request was turned down by the Commonwealth Games Federation, who stated that while it was a "very unfortunate situation" the organisation had a "very strict late-entry policy, and if we allow one athlete leniency, we're required to provide it to all."

“I have spoken to Melissa to offer my sincere apologies to her, her coaches and to British Cycling," a Team England statement read.

“Melissa has trained hard for and focussed on this race and it should never be the case that an error on our part prevents an athlete showing what she can do.

“We appealed to the Commonwealth Games Federation to allow Melissa into the race it was not possible at such short notice.

 “Team England will be conducting a review to understand how the situation has arisen and how it can be prevented from happening again.”