Every win is special, but for many reasons this one at the Powercor Melbourne to Warrnambool loomed large. Blake Agnoletto was a rider who had put so much into chasing a result at the gruelling event and Team Brennan p/b TP32 may have been a new squad but its members had so much history in the race – they had a former winner on the road in Tristan Saunders and another, Tim Decker, in the car fully backing Agnoletto as he headed down that final straight on Raglan Parade toward victory.
“I knew Tristan would do anything he could physically to help set it up, which he did,” Agnoletto told Cyclingnews after his teammate had jumped on the front of the leading group of five and drove the pace in the last two kilometres to set up the sprint for his teammate. ”But honestly, I was probably the most nervous coming into a sprint finish that I've ever been in my life.
“Tim was on the radio, probably scaring me even a little bit more,” he joked. “But no, it's just going through my head, just ‘don’t stuff it up, just don’t stuff it up, get the sprint right’.”
That is just what he did, jumping at under 200m to go and not for a second looking like he would be caught, even though the rider in pursuit was the formidable 2022 winner Cameron Scott (CCACHE x Bodywrap). The shock, joy and relief all rolled into one was evident as Agnoletto threw his hands momentarily to his face rather than up in the air initially as he crossed the line, with a delighted teammate Saunders coming up behind with his hand in the air as the rest of the team support staff rushed to the finish area to congratulate him.
“We were in a good situation, having two in the last five, and having ridden up this straight a few times myself it was a little bit emotional,” said Decker – who has had more than his fair share of heartwarming victories in recent months after having coached last years Australian team pursuit squad on the track to Olympic gold. “But I had to push that aside and make sure that we focused on making sure that Blake knew how to sprint well up this finish.
“In the end, he was just physically and mentally at another level today in that sprint. He really wanted it – you know, a week ago he said ‘Tim I’m going to win the Warrny’.”
But you don’t just decide to win the race known as 'the Warrny' and expect it to be so. There were countless hours of work that went into making it a reality from the huge moto pace effort a week ago as final preparation to all the training in the months beforehand for the race that would also this year play out as the second round of the new ProVelo Super League.
“It was honestly a massive target from when I found out that Tim Decker and Graeme Moffet were starting a team,” said Agnoletto of the Team Brennan p/b TP32 squad which was quickly pulled together to make sure the talent in it had a team to race in for the new ProVelo Super League. “I just thought about how much winning the Melbourne to Warrnambool would mean for everyone in the team and for Tim.”
Agnoletto had clearly found inspiration. The 22-year-old kept pushing on, just as he had when he missed selection for the Paris Olympics on the track and, most recently, when he missed the November expressions of interest deadline – while focussed completely on racing on the track in Europe – to pitch for a spot on the Australian national team at the Tour Down Under and Cadel Evans Road Race.
“My whole focus went to this race so it was a lot of just long, slow rides,” said Agnoletto. “It was a bit mind-numbing at some points and it was tough going through the Tour Down Under period when all my friends were racing TDU and I obviously wasn't. Training for this took my mind off it.”
It also delivered a huge reward, with there being little doubt just how much a Melbourne to Warrnambool win means, with the legend of the race built over 130 years and the permanent monument and finish line in the heart of Warrnambool a clear reminder of its ever-present place in the Australian cycling psyche.
“Agnoletto has had some real ups and downs through that last period of four or five years,” said Decker, who has long known the rider, with Bendigo being their shared home town. “Some highs and this will be his highest, I’d say, but he's stuck with it and, you know, that's what real champions do.
“He's stuck with it, and he's shown today that he is a champion and he deserves to be in Europe racing professionally – he has the credibility, the skill and he knows how to win bike races.”
