Emma Pooley was narrowly beaten by Linda Villumsen

England’s Emma Pooley claimed a silver medal in the women’s time trial at the Commonwealth Games after being narrowly beaten by New Zealand’s Linda Villumsen in a nip-and-tuck battle.

The pair were never separated by more than eight seconds over a 29.6km course in Glasgow and although Pooley was ahead at all three intermediate splits, Villumsen produced a rousing final 6km to snatch the title.

Australia’s Katrin Garfoot took the bronze medal, 48 seconds behind Villumsen, while Scotland’s Katie Archibald was 1min 04sec back in fifth.

Pooley’s silver medal is likely to be her final major accolade in professional cycling. She will retire on Sunday after the women’s road race, where she is expected to support Lizzie Armitstead's bid for gold.

"You can't be frustrated when you have done your best," Pooley said. "It was nice to cross the line with the best time and slightly less nice when someone goes quicker. I'm not upset. Linda deserved to win. I don't really want to look back with regrets, because you can't re-race it. I'm thrilled to have a medal at all."

Pooley, who is a former world champion, Olympic silver medallist and the reigning British champion in time trials, was 1.3 seconds ahead of Villumsen at both the first and second splits, after 6.4km and 17.1km.

She had then moved to eight seconds ahead at the final split, after 23.2km, but Villumsen, who took silver in Delhi four years ago, flourished on the technical run to the finish line to elevate herself to the top step of the podium this time around.

Wales’ Elinor Barker and Scottish pair Lucy Coldwell and Anna Turvey all achieved top-ten finishes, but England’s Joanna Rowsell had to settle for 13th.

Commonwealth Games women’s time trial result

1 Linda Villumsen (NZ) 42:25:46
2 Emma Pooley (Eng), +6secs
3 Katrin Garfoot (Aus), +48
4 Jaime Nielsen (NZ), +1:04
5 Katie Archibald (Sco), +1:04
6 Shara Gillow (Aus), +1:08
7 Elinor Barker (Wal), +1:30
8 Lucy Coldwell (Sco), +1:37
9 Anna Turvey (Sco), +1:43
10 Jasmin Glaesser (Can), +1:47
Selected other
13 Joanna Rowsell (Eng), +2:20