Richie Porte has lavished praise on cycling teammate Rohan Dennis after being on the wrong end of a absolute at the Australian road championships.
Dennis won his third-straight Australian road title in the elite men's time trial on Friday, becoming the fourth rider at this year's championships to achieve the feat.
Earlier on Friday, Katrin Garfoot similarly crushed the field in the women's elite time trial for her third-straight title.
Their wins came a day after Callum Scotson achieved his three-peat in the under-23 time trial and Caleb Ewan also went three-straight on Wednesday night in the elite criterium.
Dennis clocked 51 minutes 13 seconds over the 40.9km course in hot conditions at Buninyong, near Ballarat.
He was a minute seven seconds faster than silver medallist Luke Durbridge and 1:43 up on Porte, who was third in his first race finish since crashing out of last year's Tour de France.
Porte spoke glowingly about Dennis' chances in the time trial at this year's world championships.
"The absolute drubbing that Rohan gave us all today - who knows," Porte said.
"If Rohan puts his mind to it, there's nothing he can't do.
"He's an incredible talent, it's like he has a V12 engine inside his ribs.
"He's a freak and I say that in a nice way."
Porte and Dennis were unsure about their form before Friday - Porte because of his long layoff after the Tour crash.
Dennis also had a different preparation for this year's nationals, returning to Australia only a few days before.
The BMC teammates were pleased with what they produced in their first race of the year.
"It's more of a pride thing, coming here and winning it and wearing this (national champion's jersey) for the rest of the year," Dennis said.
While Garfoot is a top medal hope in the time trial at the April Commonwealth Games, Dennis will bypass the event because of his buildup to the May Giro d'Italia.
"I always like to represent Australia ... it's a shame," he said.
Dennis is in the second year of a four-year campaign where he hopes to become a Grand Tour contender.
He said it was "so far, good" in the project, despite crashing out last year's Giro.
Porte's only other race since the Tour crash was the Japan Cup lat last year, which he did not finish.
Porte will also be a key rider in Sunday's road race and then he defends his Tour Down Under title later this month in Adelaide.
"Maybe Sunday and Tour Down Under are a little more suited to me, but that (the time trial) was nice, to see where I'm at," he said.
Also on Friday, Alex Manly won the under-23 women's time trial and Sarah Gigante took out the under-19 crown.
Stars such as Carol Cooke, Alistair Donohue and David Nicholas were among the winners again in the paracycling road races.
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