Renshaw omission may have cost Aussies gold

Tasmanian Matthew Goss finished about half a wheel behind gold medallist Mark Cavendish with German fast-man Andre Greipel third in the 266km event.

The Australian team rode an aggressive race to pressure Great Britain and ensure Goss was positioned well in the uphill finish. The 24-year-old was guided to approximately the last 150m but pundits soon after asked if the result would have been different if Renshaw was there as pilot fish.

Renshaw is a renowned lead-out specialist but alongside Adam Hansen was named as a team reserve in what was a controversial decision from national selectors.

“We’ll never know,” White said.

“I said from the start that I was very confident of the nine guys that we had here and they delivered.

"It wasn’t by any lack of effort that those guys got the silver medal. There were centimetres in it and Mark Cavendish won the world title without a lead-out.”

Selectors did not publicly elaborate on the reason behind Renshaw’s omission from the team.

Renshaw’s HTC-Highroad sports director Allan Peiper said earlier this week the sprinter would have entered in top form – referring to his stage wins and lead-outs for Cavendish at the Tour of Britain - and emphasised the value of his tactical nous.

His sentiment was supported by Cavendish who said before the elite men’s race that the omission boosted his chances of winning.

But White, who was part of a four-man selection panel, said the Australian team train chosen, for what he described as one of the fastest world championships on record, was right.

“If Gossy was good, which we knew he would be pretty good, it was going to be for Matt Goss,” White said of Australia’s strategy.

“We wanted a really aggressive team. It was one of the fastest world championships, if not the fastest world championships ever, and we wanted guys who ride very aggressive.

“They did a super job in the early part of the race covering everything and then very, very happy with the lead-out that especially Mat Hayman, Stuey (O’Grady) and especially Heinrich Haussler did for Gossy in the final.”

Goss paid tribute to his Australian team-mates after what is his last race of the season.

“The whole team rode absolutely perfect today all the guys did an incredible job,” Goss said.

“Without those guys I wouldn’t have got to the finish when I needed to and got the result that I did.”

It’s the third consecutive year Australia has finished on the podium at the elite men’s road world championship. Tour de France winner Cadel Evans took out the 2009 title and Commonwealth Games gold medallist Allan Davis won bronze last year.

Twitter: @SophieSmith86