A new medallist enters the history books for Australia at the world championships as Grace Brown took out second over a fast, technical course in the heart of Wollongong.
Brown was one of the first wave of riders to tackle the double lap of the coastal and suburban course, the short sharp climb of Mount Ousley the main difficulty of the race, a slightly altered version of the loop the road races will tackle next weekend.
Two-time national time trial champion Brown set the quickest time, then had a long wait in the hot seat as rider after rider finished behind her time before defending champion van Dijk went 12 seconds better.
“It was a rollercoaster of emotions up there,” said Brown in the post-race press conference. “Initially I expected to be the fastest, and then have Annemiek van Vleuten up. I saw it wasn’t her best day out there, I was up at the major checkpoints.
“I had this hope that I was on an absolute flyer, that was until the last two started and came through the first checkpoint ahead of me. From there it was always going to be nervous, but I knew I’d done a faster second lap than my first, so I knew that there would be a chance that I could get the rainbow jersey but she (Ellen van Dijk) had a phenomenal ride so I was satisfied with second.”
Brown has been on a steady upward trajectory throughout her time trial performances in recent seasons, placing fourth at both the Olympics and the World Championships in 2021, finally cracking a medal against the best in world with her performance on home turf. The Victorian was pleased with her performance, putting it at the top of her achievements in what is becoming a very impressive set of results across her career.
“The goal was the podium, rainbows were the dream, and there’s still plenty of years to try and get them,” said Brown.
“I think this would have to be close to the top of my result experiences, especially being in Australia and having my friends and family in the crowd. All the cheers on roadside from the crowd and the time in the hotseat was really special. To come away with a medal is pretty big.”
Brown comes up against a top set of riders at present in the time trial ranks, with fellow podium-place finishers Van Dijk and Marlen Reusser (Switzerland) perennially in the mix for the win in every event they attempt, and two-time world champion Annemiek van Vleuten (Netherlands) the benchmark for top-level performance in the sport against the clock and on the road.
Nonetheless, Brown has shown that she deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as those esteemed riders, as much of a chance of winning in the future as her more experienced rivals.
“It's made me hungry to be so close to the rainbow jersey,” said Brown, who has the dual goal of backing up and competing for the win in the road race. “It’s a big challenge to go for the time trial and the road race, but I’ve come in with both as my goals.
“I’ll celebrate this first, then work up slowly to the road race.”
A silver medal is worthy of significant celebration for not just Brown, but for Australian cycling as whole to kick off the home world championships. At just 12 seconds off gold, it shows that Brown is just a percentage point or two away from taking that big victory against the clock that she’s shown that she deserves.
