The Australian team rode technically well and efficiently in the mixed team time trial, never out of line and with a strong, consistent pacing throughout the event. Luke Plapp dropped off just a few kilometres before the finish in the men’s leg, setting up Michael Matthews and Luke Durbridge to power to the finish, with Alex Manly dropping off a bit later during the women’s lap for Georgia Baker and Sarah Roy to finish the job.
The time of 34.25 was made up of a 16.12 lap for the men and a 18.13 lap for the women.
The team finished by far the fastest of the early teams, putting over four minutes into Ukraine as their nearest competitor, which meant they had to execute a slightly messy overtaking manouevre in the final kilometre as they passed the women’s squad.
From there, it was another tense wait atop the hotseat for six, a familiar position for Australians at the world championships to date, with Grace Brown and Hamish McKenzie experiencing long stints at the top of the standings in their efforts against the clock to finish in second eventually.
For the mixed team time trial it was a similar fate, with a bronze medal the reward as first the Switzerland team then the Italy squad passed the Australians. There were scenes of jubilation within the waiting area after their medal was confirmed with Germany finishing eight seconds outside the medals in fourth, a luckless Netherlands outfit in fifth after a Bauke Mollema mechanical and dramatic Annemiek van Vleuten crash right at the start of the women’s lap.
The Australian team arrived at the post race press conference, with Luke Durbridge and Sarah Roy fielding most of the questions on behalf of their teammates.
“It was really special,” Durbridge said, “the mixed relay was a good way to start the world championships for us. I think having some success was great for Australia and the crowds were great.
“We were really happy to come away with a bronze medal and it’s the first time we’ve done this event and we think it has a bright future. We were happy with our performance today.”
It was a performance based on an ad hoc preparation, working around the demands of the professional rider’s schedules during the year and different arrival times in Wollongong for the championships itself meaning that practice rides with the team were limited to yesterday out on the course.
“It’s quite tricky to get together during the season, I know for the men’s team that yesterday was our first session together, so three laps was enough,” said Durbridge.
“I think we’re pretty dialled with the teams time trials, we do a couple throughout the year, me and Michael have worked together throughout the year and know each other pretty well and Plappy has also well on the team time trial and with the pursuit on the track.
“In the future, we could look to do more work on it.”
On the women’s side, it was a similar situation, though there was a bit more crossover between the riders leading into the mixed team time trial relay, with the majority of the team on site in Wollongong from the start of the championships.
“It’s a similar situation for the women really, we had a few days together in Girona a month or so ago with a few of us – not the exact team here - with a few practice sessions and deciding who we would bring on the day,” said Roy.
“I think we’re lucky as a nation that we have a lot of experience of team trialling and team pursuiting. Georgia and Alex have a lot of experience together over the years, and Alex and I have been teammates for a few years previously on GreenEdge.
“Yesterday was a really good practice and hit out, we learned a lot from Georgia’s experience the other day (in the elite TT where she finished eighth). We put as much into it as we had time and resources for, and went pretty well.”
It’s the third year of the nations-based format for the mixed team time trial at the World Championships, and from the tenor of the Australian team’s answers after winning bronze, it’s a format where they want to return and go even better in the future.
