Former champion IndyCar racer Alex Zanardi has added a silver medal to his tally at the Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

A day after winning gold in the 20km time trial, Zanardi was narrowly beaten in a blanket finish to the 60km H5 paracycling road race.

The race came down to a 200m sprint to the finish with Zanardi pipped by a few hundredths of a second by South African Ernst van Dyk while Jetze Plat (Netherlands) was in close attendance in third.

The three medalists were all given the same time of 1hr37.49s.

“First of all I want to congratulate Ernst van Dyk for winning a great gold medal,” Zanardi said.

“He showed all his qualities as a sprinter, and today he was probably stronger than me.”

Zanardi said that winning the gold in the time trial a day earlier had taken its toll.

A winner of the 1997 and 1998 CART Championships which included the 1998 Gold Coast Indy crown, Zanardi will have his final race in Rio later tonight when racing for Italy in the team relay.

Meanwhile former Dunlop V8 Supercars driver Colin Sieders was eighth in the final of the KL1 paracanoe.