British cycling great Ed Clancy has paid tribute to Australian rider Jason Lowndes after winning the prologue time trial at the Herald Sun Tour.
Lowndes was hit by a car and killed last month while on a training ride near his Bendigo home, aged just 23.
The rising star had joined JLT Condor and would have been a teammate of Clancy's at the Herald Sun tour.
After speaking jubilantly for several minutes on Wednesday about his biggest road win, Clancy struggled for words when asked about Lowndes.
Clancy showed his class, saying he was unsure about dedicating the win to Lowndes because he had not known him personally.
"I keep my ear to the ground and you hear stories about how strong and brave his family and friends have been," Clancy said.
"It's quite humbling - I wish Jason was here.
"My thoughts are with his friends and family."
Clancy and his JLT Condor teammates wore flashing lights on the back of their bikes during Wednesday's time trial to promote road safety.
Clancy has been a key member of Great Britain's all-powerful team pursuit squad, winning gold medals in the track event at the past three Olympics.
He is also a five-time world track champion.
But Clancy's road credentials are much more modest, meaning he had been the 10th rider to start the time trial out of 101.
He scorched over the 1.6km time trial at Melbourne's Southbank in a minute 54.95 seconds.
Clancy sat in the hot seat at the finish podium for an hour as the rest of the field tried in vain to beat his team.
Dane Mads Pedersen was just .61 of a second slower than Clancy in second place and less than a second separated the top four.
Newly crowned Australian road champion Alex Edmondson had been the last rider to start and, like Clancy, he is also a team pursuiter.
Again, Britain won a cycling Ashes battle, with Edmondson finishing fifth fastest.
Clancy admitted to nerves during Edmondson's ride.
"When Edmondson was coming down the last 200m, I know the form he's had," Clancy said.
For all the sporting rivalry between Britain and Australia, the affable Clancy said he took no great pleasure in beating Edmondson.
"The press builds it up a bit, but there's a lot of respect between the Aussies and the Brits, on the bikes, the team pursuit and all that," he said.
Clancy doubts he will keep the lead beyond Thursday's 161.6km first stage from Colac to Warrnambool, but he is going to lap it up.
"Let the good times role," he said.
The time trial was shortened this year by 500m, better suiting Clancy's physical talents, and he focused on winning it.
"I've been absolutely obsessed with this ... I did my research, I love my numbers," he said.
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