Shrugging off a crash he suffered the day previously, Luke Durbridge cruised to a second consecutive Australian national time trial title in Lake Wendouree earlier today.
Riding strongly over 37 kilometres, the Orica GreenEdge rider beat new Garmin Sharp signing Rohan Dennis by 21.27 seconds. Durbridge’s new team-mate Michael Matthews finished a further 24 seconds back for bronze.
“Winning the national title was definitely my main objective for January,” he said afterwards. “I worked hard over December to achieve that goal, and I’m happy to come out with the win.
“It’s an honour to wear national colours. To have that honour last year and achieve it again this year is a huge thing for me. I take a lot of motivation from wearing the championship jersey. I’m glad to do it again this year. My 2013 season has started quite well.”
Durbridge turned pro last year with the Australian team and had an impressive first season. In addition to his national title, he took a stage, the overall title and the young rider classification in both the Circuit de la Sarthe and the Tour du Poitou Charentes, and also won the prologue of the Critérium du Dauphiné. Together with Svein Tuft, he was first in the Duo Normand.
Directeur sportif Matt Wilson said that things went as planned, aside from a technology failure towards the end of the test. “Durbo is a level-headed guy,” he said. “He wanted some specific information over the radio with good time checks and a little encouragement towards the end. His radio stopped working during the second half of the course, so it was frustrating for him not have the information he wanted, but he was obviously riding super strong by that point.”
His victory last year was more of a surprise and brought a different feeling. This time round, he was regarded as one of the big favourites and said that he felt anything other than a win would be a disappointment. “I used that pressure to motivate and drive me when I trained and raced. When it got hard out there today, I was able to remind myself that you don’t win when it isn’t hard. The pressure was good motivation for me in the end.”
New team-mate Matthews beat the strong time trialist Richie Porte to pick up the bronze medal. Wilson said that he had been working hard prior to the test, and so the result was not a surprise for him. “I knew he’d do a good time trial. He’s done fantastic efforts in the past, so I expected him to be up there. Given the form of both Durbo and Dennis, third place is a fantastic result.”
Gillow adds to Orica success, Howson takes under 23 gold:
Just as Durbridge did in the men’s event, Orica AIS rider Shara Gillow successfully defended her national title for the top Australian team; in fact, her win was her third successive championship title.
She was dominant over the 29 kilometre course, beating Grace Sulzberger by one minute 9.64 seconds, and Felicity Wardlaw by one minute 20.64.
“I’m pretty happy with my ride, and it’s obviously really good to win the national championships again,” she said. “With the course changes this year, it’s hard to compare my effort to my previous titles, and I’m always striving to go better. It’s a special win today, that’s for sure.
“We did a bit more than five kilometers around the lake before we headed straight out of town and straight back,” she said, speaking about the course. “There was a bit of wind, which I like, so that worked in my favour. I didn’t break the course down into different sections. My goal was just to go as fast I could the entire time.”
She had a visual stimulus early on to draw her on, catching the first two riders ahead of her. After that, though, she said that it was harder to gauge how she was going.
However she need not have worried, with her form today putting her well ahead of her rivals, and equalling the feat of 1992 Olympic road race champion Kathy Watt. “I actually only found out recently that Kathy Watt had set the mark with three titles and that it hadn’t been broken,” she said.
“I’ve equalled that now. I didn’t have any extra pressure to chase that record. I always put pressure on myself anyway.”
In the men’s under 23 event, Damien Howson (South Australia) eked out a narrow victory over Alexander Morgan (Victoria), beating him by 1.79 seconds. Bronze went to Campbell Flakemore (Tasmania), who was just over half a minute back.
The Mars Cycling Australia national championships continue tomorrow with the criterium titles.
Australian national time trial championships, Lake Wendouree
Elite men's time trial:
1, Luke Durbridge (WA) 37 kilometres in 43 mins 26.71
2, Rohan Dennis (SA) at 21.27
3, Michael Matthews (ACT) at 45.14
4, Richard Porte (Tas) at 48.15
5, Jacob Kauffmann (NSW) at 2:43.68
6, William Clarke (Tas) at 2:54.74
7, Nick Bensley (Vic) at 3:11.15
8, Jack Anderson (Qld) at 3:16.41
9, Cameron Wurf (Tas) at 3:18.57
10, Shane Miller (Vic) at 3:26.62
11, Michael Cupitt (ACT) at 3:29.71
12, Marc Williams (ACT) at 3:38.47
13, Blair Windsor (NSW) at 3:52.14
14, Joseph Lewis (NSW) at 3:58.00
15, Brodie Talbot (NSW) at 4:02.99
16, Ben Dyball (NSW) at 4:17.23
17, Michael Gallagher (Vic) at 4:18.19
18, Jack Bobridge (SA) at 4:29.75
19, Nicholas Squillari (Vic) at 4:40.47
20, Peter Herzig (Qld) at 4:49.95
21, Stephen Lane (Vic) at 5:06.51
22, Karl Evans (SA) at 5:21.73
23, Michael Troy (NSW) at 5:22.74
24, David Kelly (Vic) at 5:28.08
25, Mark Fenner (NSW) at 5:31.13
26, Jay Bourke (Vic) at 5:46.79
27, Joel Strachan (Vic) at 5:57.34
28, Benjamin Johnson (Vic) at 6:14.45
29, Thomas Donald (Qld) at 6:16.18
30, Correy Edmed (Qld) at 6:39.85
Elite/Under 23 women's time trial:
1, Shara Gillow (Qld) 29 kilometres in 38:36.59
2, Grace Sulzberger (Tas) at 1:09.64
3, Felicity Wardlaw (Vic) at 1:20.64
4, Taryn Heather (Vic) at 1:23.77
5, Tiffany Cromwell (Sa) at 1:30.74
6, Ruth Corset (Qld) at 1:36.25
7, Amanda Spratt (NSW) at 1:46.00
8, Gracie Elvin (ACT) at 2:01.27
9, Carla Ryan (Qld) at 2:02.07
10, Bridie O'Donnell (Vic) at 2:12.87
11, Clare Dallat (Vic) at 2:22.46
12, Pippa Savage (Vic) at 2:33.96
13, Loren Rowney (Qld) at 2:36.35
14, Katrin Garfoot (Qld) at 2:37.38
15, Samantha De Riter (Vic) at 2:57.00
16, Sarah Roy (NSW) at 3:09.00
17, Ailie McDonald (ACT - Under 23 rider), 0:03:27.99
18, Miranda Griffiths (Vic) at 3:57.41
19, Ashlee Ankudinoff (NSW) at 3:57.51
20, Lucy Coldwell (Vic) at 4:38.31
21, Lucy Barker (Sa) at 4:52.39
22, Nicole Whitburn (Vic) at 4:55.53
23, Jessica Allen (Vic - Under 23 rider), 0:05:00.33
24, Lizzi Clements (Qld) at 5:18.64
25, Stephanie Frawley (Vic) at 5:37.99
26, Cassandra Dodd (Qld - Under 23 rider), 0:05:55.21
27, Victoria Luxton-Bain (Vic) at 5:55.87
28, Sarah Riley (Vic) at 6:18.61
29, Lauretta Hanson (Vic - Under 23 rider), 0:06:42.03
30, Carley Mckay (Vic) at 6:47.56
Under 23 men's time trial:
1, Damien Howson (SA) 29 kilometres in 34 mins 42.18
2, Alexander Morgan (Vic) at 01.79
3, Campbell Flakemore (Tas) at 38.38
4, Jordan Kerby (Qld) at 1:01.29
5, Jack Haig (Vic) at 1:19.78
6, Mitchell Lovelock-Fay (ACT) at 1:33.46
7, Alex Clements (Tas) at 1:55.84
8, Mitchell Mulhern (Qld) at 2:01.66
9, Aaron Donnelly (NSW) at 2:02.15
10, Harry Carpenter (SA) at 2:11.73
11, Adam Phelan (ACT) at 2:13.72
12, Samuel Spokes (NSW) at 2:39.65
13, Matthew Clark (Vic) at 2:41.76
14, James Boal (Vic) at 3:01.58
15, Jesse Kerrison (Qld) at 3:04.06
16, Mitchell Cooper (Vic) at 3:18.87
17, Luke Ockerby (Tas) at 3:28.62
18, Alex Wohler (Qld) at 3:33.12
19, Jay Dutton (NSW) at 4:03.12
20, David Edwards (Qld) at 4:05.67
21, Rylee Field (NSW) at 4:17.31
22, Alexander Hoffman (Qld) at 4:19.38
23, Fraser Northey (SA) at 4:30.63
24, Scott Mcphee (SA) at 4:41.29
25, Jordan Davies (NSW) at 4:50.80
26, Ivan Michelin-Beard (ACT) at 4:58.23
27, Fergus Sully (Vic) at 5:11.24
28, Ben Cutajar (Qld) at 5:30.14
29, Jesse Ewart (NSW) at 5:38.57
30, Douglas Freeburn (Qld) at 5:52.06