Aussie junior men outmuscled in wet conditions in Wollongong

An attacking Junior Men’s road race at the Wollongong 2022 road cycling world championships saw the Australian team kept out of the top positions with some bad luck and other strong teams performing well, meaning that Australia’s top performer finished 19th.

Oscar Chamberlain of Australia and Gonçalo Tavares of Portugal compete in the breakaway during the Junior Men's road race 95th UCI Road World Championships 2022. Credit: Con Chronis/Getty Images

Wet and slippery conditions greeted riders for the Junior Men’s Road Race, but proved treacherous for the Australian team, with Hamish McKenzie falling early in the race and having to battle his way around the Wollongong city circuit for almost all of the eight laps that comprised the 135.6-kilometre course.

“I was feeling pretty good at the start,” said McKenzie. “Off the downhill, a rider just slipped out straight in front and there was nowhere to go but straight into it.

“I probably paid for it trying to chase back on, it was a pretty hard chase. I just tried to what I could, get in the break, but I just didn’t have the legs after the crash, my body was a bit banged up."

For McKenzie, it has still been a very successful world championships. His silver medal in the time trial had put his name up there with the best young riders in the world. Despite being bruised and battered from the road race, McKenzie still had the happy memories from a few days before.

“It was a lot of days of pure happiness,” said McKenzie, “a lot of work was put into that and a lot of gratitude for the people around me.

“It’s pretty huge, probably 3-4 years ago when I saw it was going to be in Wollongong, I set that as a massive goal. Yeah, super cool, it wasn’t the way we wanted to end it, but really special nonetheless. A nice little break now, just some time to reflect, it will be nice.”

Oscar Chamberlain went the deepest into the race for the Australian team, dropping off the front group on the second last ascent of Mt Pleasant, ultimately finishing 19^th, 5’30 behind winner Emil Herzog (Germany).

“Obviously, I would have liked to have stayed more to the front,” said Chamberlain, “but with the racing so hard it’s a mission to do that. I tried my best, and that hill was getting harder and harder, I couldn’t do any more.”