Fasnacht's a tour de force

HOBART schoolgirl Madeleine Fasnacht has won a cycling time trial gold medal at the Commonwealth Youth Games. In the steamy 31C heat of the Bahamas, the win was a great result for the 17-year-old Tasmanian, who is part of the 75-strong Australian team competing at the Games.

HOBART’S Madeleine Fasnacht doesn’t expect Richie Porte even knows her name, but she’s hoping her Commonwealth Youth Games gold medal is inching her closer to a training ride with her hero once the Tour de France cyclist recovers.

Just as Porte has put Tasmania on the world cycling map, the exuberant Year 12 schoolgirl did her bit overnight in the steamy 31C heat of the Bahamas with a time-trial triumph. It was a great result for the Tasmanian, part of the 75strong Australian team for the Games.

And it’s another sign that, at 17, she is one of Australia’s brightest prospects as a road rider.

“I’m really, really happy with the way the race panned out and a bit surprised considering I was training early on the weekend before I came away with the temperature at one degree,” Fasnacht said.

“I fell, crashed, on some black ice around Hobart, so I’m really happy I handled the big change in conditions.”

The Oceania junior road racing champion flipped from triathlon to cycling, just as Porte did, and finds inspiration in the way he has risen from Australia’s smallest state to star in the Tour de France.

“It’s unfortunate the way his race ended but just knowing he’s from Launceston, from Tasmania, from triathlon, is pretty inspiring for me,” she said. “I wouldn’t expect he’d even know who I am, but it would be pretty cool to go for a ride with him one time.”

The Guilford Young College student will back up in Sunday’s road race on the flat, coast course in the Bahamas.

The 57kg rocket will step up again in September because her selection for the road world championships in Norway looks assured.

Brisbane’s Sebastian Berwick, 17, won bronze in the men’s time trial.