An incredible time trial performance from Tyler Hamilton in Athens has won him a gold medal. And that’s not all, as fellow American cyclists Dede Barry and Bobby Julich both took medals as well.

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Tyler Hamilton dreams of yellow. Olympic gold is close enough.

His greatest ride capped the finest Olympic day for U.S. cycling, which won three of the six medals awarded in Wednesday’s road time trials — surpassing its two total road medals won since the 1984 Games in Los Angeles.

Led by Hamilton, the Americans left the scenic road course along the Saronic Gulf with one medal of every hue; Dede Barry won silver in the women’s trial, Bobby Julich took the men’s bronze.

“Ever since I was a little kid, I was in awe watching the Olympics and seeing a gold medalist on top of the podium, then hearing the national anthem,” Hamilton said. “Even as a kid, I’d get goosebumps. This is not just a victory or me or USA Cycling — it’s a victory for the entire United States of America.”

No other nation took home more road medals from Athens than the United States, which touted its team as the deepest group of riders ever sent to an Olympics — even without Lance Armstrong, the six-time defending Tour de France champion who declined an invitation.

Hamilton, Barry, Julich and Christine Thorburn — who was fourth in the women’s race, missing a medal by just 19.93 seconds — finally proved there’s more to U.S. cycling than just Armstrong.

“Lance has really catapulted cycling onto the U.S. sports scene,” Hamilton said. “We owe him a lot of credit for where we are today. The strength of these four riders today, it was incredible. It shows the U.S. has a lot of depth in cycling. We were just four, four of the many.”

Hamilton finished the 29.8-mile men’s race in 57 minutes, 31.74 seconds, a time that beat defending gold medalist Viatcheslav Ekimov of Russia by 18.84 seconds for the first American road gold since 1984 — when Alexi Grewal won the road race in Los Angeles.

Those games were boycotted by the cycling-strong Eastern Bloc nations. The world’s best were here Wednesday, and Hamilton took them all down.