As Wout van Aert rode through the small beachside suburb of Towradgi and towards the Wollongong city circuit on Thursday clad in his Belgian jersey and distinctive Red Bull helmet, he earned little more than a curious sideways glance from the odd driver and passer-by.
Did they realise who had just ridden on by? Perhaps, but quite likely not. The rider who in last year's UCI Road World Championships enjoyed massive spectator support in the cycling heartland of Flanders is facing a very different kind of run up to the Worlds this September. In the country of Australian Rules Football and National Rugby League fanatics, cycling is embraced by a devoted section of the community. But not by all.
"It's nice to see, every now and then, some fans on the road,” said Van Aert at a Thursday evening press conference after the course was open for training earlier in the day. “It's a pity to see every now and then people not really liking cyclists, so that's definitely different to Belgium."
“I think they are not really used to having riders on the road, which I completely understand,” Van Aert diplomatically added.
Still, as the event headed toward the road races, the crowds and community embrace were definitely building. After the COVID-19 pandemic and associated border closures curtailed racing for nearly two years, cyclists from around the nation are almost inevitably drawn to what is the first international road cycling event since the start of 2020.
“You feel every day the Worlds is coming closer, more people are around, more cyclists," Van Aert observed, "and that's definitely a nice experience. It's nice to feel that Australian fans also follow cycling."
In Belgium, of course, there was never any doubt about that.
“The atmosphere is definitely different to last year in Belgium,” he added. “I remember doing the recon on Thursday with probably more people than there will be out on Sunday [for the race] here – for the recon only.”
The differences have their advantages. Belgium's appreciation of cycling also meant an enormous amount of pressure was placed on being the home nation favourite.
“I don't think the stress was the problem towards the race, but it was for sure it was a big relief that the race was over," Van Aert recalled. "To have that out of the way, let’s say, and I think now I'm hungrier for the race, to give it my all."
Things are different this year in more ways than the location, too. Last year when he ended up with eighth – as Julian Alaphilippe (France) swept up a second title in a row – Van Aert was the sole leader for Belgium.
This year he shares that role with Vuelta a España winner Remco Evenepoel, while other lessons have also been taken from last year to help him better tackle Sunday's 266.9km race with nearly 4000m of vertical climbing.
"If I look back after a really long time [at last year's race] I think it was just a really strong guy who won,” Van Aert said.
“And he out-played us with really good tactics even though it was not the hardest course, for a real climber or whatever. It was more for a Classic guy but by attacking from so far from the finish the race became just too hard for a rider like me or for a rider like Mathieu [van der Poel, Netherlands].
“That's why we got dropped in the final,” said Van Aert. “You take the experience of the pressure going towards World and how you prepared for that and I already changed, last winter, a bit of my training towards one-day races."
"I think in spring I already showed I was stronger in the final of the longest races and that was maybe the biggest thing we changed and learned."
So does that mean he is in the best shape he can be for Sunday's race running from Helensburgh down the coast to Wollongong and then culminating with the loops radiating out from the coastal city?
“It's always hard to say, but I feel ready for the race,” said Van Aert. “After the Tour I built up towards this moment and until now everything worked out like I hoped.”
