Dinham Australia's best in trying conditions in Under 23 Men's race

It was a strong performance but ultimately one without a medal in the Under 23 men’s world championships road race for Matt Dinham, finishing seventh.

Matt Dinham in the U23 world championships road race (AusCycling/Ryan Miu)

The Australian mountain biker and road cyclist Matt Dinham, found conditions to his liking as the rain poured down and conditions got slippery around the technical Wollongong city circuit.

10 laps of the 17-kilometre course proved too tough for most of the peloton, with four of the five Australians included in that number with just Dinham remaining in contention for the home nation.

“I’m pretty happy with how it went,” said Dinham post-race. “It was going to be a pretty tricky day for us, there were a lot of strong teams here with some more experienced and stronger riders. The other boys did a great job looking after me, and I kinda knew that if it was really selective I might be on my own.”

Dinham kept himself in a handy position on the main climb, always in a position to respond if a dangerous rider made a move. It came down to the final lap with the eventual top two already up the road after an earlier attack. Dinham’s attempt to get over wasn’t enough to approach the front pair, and he had to reset himself for the final sprint, where he finished fifth from the bunch sprint of 14 riders for seventh overall.

“I gave it a crack on the last lap up the climb,” said Dinham, “trying to see if I could get away or force anything, but unfortunately with the way the race panned out I couldn’t really do anything, especially with some of the stronger sprinters there. With it coming down to a sprint, I’ve got to be pretty happy.”

The Under-23 men’s road race at the world championships is often a race where riders can secure professional contracts and often marks the transition from the amateur stage of a young career, to the vaunted ranks of the professionals.

With the world championships coming so late in the season, it can be the last chance for riders to impress potential WorldTour and ProTour teams. For the Australian team, it’s been an extended period together that has seen them race a number of Nations Cup events alongside each other.

With results gleaned there alongside performances with their trade teams, Jensen Plowright (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Rudy Porter (BikeExchange-Jayco) will step up to the WorldTour next season.

Dinham’s future is unannounced, but post-race answers from Hopkins and Plowright all but confirmed that Dinham’s 2023 contract was already in hand.

“This year I really wanted to help the other guys get their contracts, which they did… it’s great,” said Hopkins, while Plowright was less circumspect on Dinham’s future.

“For sure he’ll get a gig, there might be an announcement coming out soon,” said Plowright. “He’s a good bike rider with a good future ahead of him.”

These are riders that we’ll be seeing for years at the professional level, and they look to already be building plenty of camaraderie as a national team. Hopkins and Dylan George still have time in the Under-23 ranks to secure deals for the future, so from an overall season perspective, it has been a successful one for these Under-23s included within the squad.

A successful race or not, the experience of the event was one the Australians lapped up in front of the crowds that braved the poor weather out on course.

“Being a home world championships, it’s always a really special situation,” said Dinham. “I couldn’t stop smiling out there today up the climb. The amount of support we had was incredible, and it definitely helped them lift to another level. Thanks for everyone cheering out there today, it was incredible.”

That was a feeling echoed by the other on the team, with the feeling riding a home worlds unparalleled.

“Me, Rudy and Jensen were on our own in the last couple of laps, it was really uplifting for us,” said Hopkins. We were making the most of it and having a great time, it was so nice to see people from so many walks of life, people I’ve know all my life to support me, this was something really special.”

All riders bore the obvious marks of toiling through the conditions, white jerseys turned grey, faces dirty from the spray from the road and obvious effort from the exertion of racing the 170 kilometre course.

“Even though we didn’t win it, it was a great day out and one I won’t forget,” said Plowright.