Hamish McKenzie (Australia) hadn’t expected to be even close to the podium of the men's junior individual time trial at the start of the day, let alone spending a nail-biting three hours in the UCI Road World Championships hot seat before being trumped in the final moment by favourite Josh Tarling (Great Britain).
That’s perhaps why as he watched the British rider turf him off the top spot – ending the watching home crowd's ever-increasing hopes for an Australian world title holder – it was accepted with a shrug of the shoulders rather than a look of overwhelming disappointment.
"I'm stoked,” McKenzie, who races domestically with ARA Pro Racing Sunshine Coast, told the post-event media conference. “It was a long day, being fourth off and then sitting in the hot seat all day until Josh, the very last rider came through. But at the start of the day if someone said I was going to be second I really wouldn't have believed them, so I couldn't be more happy."
It was just McKenzie’s first Road World Championships appearance, and his trip to Europe with the Australian team earlier this year wasn’t perhaps truly representative, as illness ran through the squad. So it was hard to tell where he would fit in among the contenders.
The Australian National Champion's time of 35.18.45 was long unchallenged, with more than 40 more riders taking to the 28.8km course before anyone even got within a minute of that mark. But Tarling, last year’s silver medallist, challenged from the start.
Early times put Tarling on track to beat the Tasmanian. But then a slowing in his pace in the run-up to the 21.8km time check seemed to open the door for an Australian World's title again. However Tarling realised he’d eased off too much and put the power down through the final section to cross the line 19 seconds ahead of McKenzie.
“I had a good preparation and I knew if I had a good day, which I think I did, I'd be competitive,” said McKenzie. “I'd say a top ten was my goal."
A goal he completely overshot, which bodes well for Friday’s 135.6km men's junior road race.
The race runs over ten laps of the city circuit, which means ten ascents of the short but sharp climb of Mount Pleasant. There McKenzie will be lining up with a team including Oscar Chamberlain, William Eaves and Cameron Rogers.
"We have a very strong team here, we are all very similar riders with a very similar level and the course definitely suits us,” said McKenzie. “It's a short little steep climb and I reckon it will definitely be a reduced bunch finish. We will come up with a plan over the next few days and I think if we all put in as a team one of us can definitely get a very good result.”
