VETERAN IN SURVIVAL MODE
Australian claims gold as other riders go crashing out of contention
ON a day of carnage on the road, Australia’s world champion Rohan Dennis remained upright to claim gold in the Commonwealth Games men’s individual time trial.
Confronted by a narrow, technical course that they hadn’t had a look at in race conditions, riders slammed into barriers and slid through tight corners. Dennis’s main rival, good friend Geraint Thomas, crashed into a barrier just two-minutes into his ride and gave up a lead he was unable to regain.
England’s Dan Bigham also hit the barricades and couldn’t free his bike, forcing him to grab his girlfriend Josthe celin Lowden’s bike to finish the torturous 37.4km course.
Riders had been taken on a reconnaissance drive along the course, but before it was closed to traffic and barriers installed.
“I did realise that some of the corners did tighten up a little bit more than what I thought, so a couple nearly took me out, but I was quickly able to react and avoid that situation,” Dennis said.
“We were just going a lot quicker than we were going in recon. We didn’t quite know the speeds we were hitting the corners and sometimes you don’t realise how quick you go in
open roads. The fact was that we didn’t have a proper recon of that course and be able to properly test those corners at a reasonable pace. “Checking the corners when there is traffic, you don’t know how fast you can take them and you are going two to three times faster than you would in recon. It sometimes catches people out.” Welshman Thomas, who finished third at the recent Tour de France, rode just as fast as Dennis when he was on his bike, but was undone by his early crash.
By staying on his bike and riding with power and discipline, Dennis was able to claim a gold medal he said was 12 years in the making. Despite two world championship crowns, Dennis, 32, had only claimed minor medals at Olympic or Commonwealth Games before this.
“I have finally gotten on that top step,” he said. It was Dennis’s first race since June, when he and his Jumbo-Visma team had to abandon the Tour de Suisse because of Covid-19. “It has been a rollercoaster to be honest with you, there have been a lot of downs,” he said. “But I’d say, looking back, it has been a pretty good period of time.”
It was a clean sweep for Australia in the time
trials, with
Grace Brown putting in a dominant display to win the women’s race.
Brown, Australia’s top-ranked male or female road cyclist this year, blitzed the field across the 28.8km course. A former middle and long-distance runner, Brown only started racing in 2016. She now has a Commonwealth Games gold to go with her bronze from the time trial at last year’s Olympics.
“I think especially from an Australian perspective, to win a gold at a Commonwealth Games, it is something that I think that is super special,” she said. “I need to actually invest in a trophy cabinet I think.”