By Paul Verkuylen
Newly crowned Australian time trial champion Adam Hansen not only came to Ballarat looking for a win in the time trial, but would like to leave with the road race title as well.
"I hope to do well. I came down to win both, so that's my goal. I'm feeling really good on the road bike, much better than on the time trial bike," he explained to Cyclingnews.
Hansen will have two team-mates with him on Sunday, Michael Rogers and Scott Davis, but stressed that it was most important for the team to win the jersey. "We haven't really discussed it yet. If he [Rogers] wins it, Scott wins it, or I win it, we will all be happy.
"The better the rider that you have the more cards we have to play, I think that we will all support each other. The better the other riders on our team are, the better it is for us."
Hansen's tactics for the title come down to a simple formula that has worked many times before in road races that have been as open as this Sunday's title will be. "I am not much of a sprinter, so I will definitely try something on the hills," he said.
With the championships taking place so early on in the season for many, preparation is the key to success on such a tough course, one thing that Hansen believes he has. "I have had some really good training before coming here. I have a good base and have had four weeks of solid intervals," he explained.
With so many of the top riders only having ridden against one another a hand full of times in the lead up to Sunday's race, Hansen was not willing to gamble on who may or may not have winning form. "The thing about the Australian championships is, I think anyone can win it. We always watch the top rider, but there are a lot of good middle class riders that we don't really know about. I think anyone has a chance, so I will keep my eyes open on anyone," he concluded.
