National Championships Men Under 23 Time Trial

South Australia’s Rohan Dennis, 21, collected his second gold medal of the week with a dominating performance in the under 23 time trial.

“I can’t describe this, I keep saying it is a perfect start to the year,” said Dennis, who claimed his first Australian road race crown on Saturday.

“It was a dream of mine to win the road race as I have never won one before at a senior level, so to win both jerseys, it is a dream come true in my last year of under 23s,” said Dennis.

The Jayco AIS rider reclaimed the title he won in 2010, finishing well clear of his rivals after averaging 48.2km/hour across the 27.1kilometre course to post a time of 33:42.70.

Dennis finished 15 seconds ahead of Jayco AIS teammate Damian Howson who crossed the line in 33:57.49 to take the silver medal. Tasmania’s Campbell Flakemore took the bronze medal with 34:23.26.

Queensland’s Jay McCarthy (Jayco-AIS) finished just three seconds off the podium in 34:26.55, despite suffering a crash inside the final ten kilometres. In all, Jayco-AIS finished with six riders in the top nine placings.

“(This race) definitely wasn’t going to be an easy one, but all of us Jayco guys have been training really hard,” said Dennis, who reached over 65 kilometres per hour across parts of the course.

“It was the goal to catch one or maybe two guys, so it was good to start off a little earlier so I had guys to chase down.

“I certainly wasn’t coming into here expecting to win everything, but I am lucky enough and happy enough to come up with both jerseys.

“I have been working for the time trial ever since I started training this season and have worked really hard with Tim (Decker), so to claim them both, just goes to show all the hard work has paid off,” Dennis added.

Dennis will now head to the Santos Tour Down Under where he will compete as part of the UNI SA-Australia team. Following this, the reigning team pursuit world champion, will turn his attention to the velodrome ahead of the Track National Championships in Adelaide later this month and April’s UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Melbourne.

“I have track nationals, one world cup and hopefully track worlds and Olympics. The Olympics is the main goal and hopefully I can come home with a gold there as well,” Dennis said.

Date: Tue, 10th January 2012
Distance: 27.1km

Rider Time Gap

1. 289 Rohan DENNIS (SA) 33:42.70
2. 287 Damien HOWSON (SA) 33:57.49 +15
3. 296 Campbell FLAKEMORE (TAS) 34:23.26 +41
4. 286 Jay MCCARTHY (QLD) 34:26.55 +44
5. 288 Nick AITKEN (VIC) 35:05.44 +1:23
6. 412 Luke DAVISON (NSW) 35:10.97 +1:28
7. 298 Calvin WATSON (VIC) 35:16.43 +1:34
8. 292 Aaron DONNELLY (NSW) 35:20.85 +1:38
9. 291 Mitchell LOVELOCK-FAY (ACT) 35:22.66 +1:40
10. 290 Lachlan MORTON (NSW) 35:37.61 +1:55
11. 334 Nicholas DOUGALL (QLD) 35:41.64 +1:59
12. 415 Brian MCLEOD (QLD) 35:42.44 +2:00
13. 295 David EDWARDS (QLD) 36:02.80 +2:20
14. 332 Harry CARPENTER (SA) 36:15.72 +2:33
15. 320 Andrew MARTIN (WA) 36:31.71 +2:49
16. 319 Ivan MICHELIN-BEARD (ACT) 36:42.80 +3:00
17. 316 Craig HUTTON (NSW) 36:58.65 +3:16
18. 326 Nathan ELLIOTT (VIC) 37:02.85 +3:20
19. 299 Jack BECKINSALE (NSW) 37:04.86 +3:22
20. 323 Matthew CLARK (VIC) 37:07.62 +3:25
21. 322 Damien WRIGHT (QLD) 37:12.81 +3:30
22. 312 James BOAL (VIC) 37:15.27 +3:33
23. 321 Liam DOVE (VIC) 37:16.24 +3:34
24. 307 Eric SHEPPARD (VIC) 37:16.95 +3:34
25. 297 Samuel DAVIS (WA) 37:17.63 +3:35
26. 302 Alex CLEMENTS (TAS) 37:24.42 +3:42
27. 328 Mitchell COOPER (VIC) 37:27.72 +3:45
28. 300 Scott MCPHEE (SA) 37:30.48 +3:48
29. 317 Phillip MUNDY (SA) 37:32.97 +3:50
30. 313 Nicholas WOODS (NSW) 37:37.75 +3:55
31. 309 Justin VANSTONE (QLD) 37:46.42 +4:04
32. 301 Samuel SPOKES (NSW) 37:46.58 +4:04
33. 333 Blake HOSE (VIC) 37:52.46 +4:10
34. 306 Brenton JONES (VIC) 37:54.72 +4:12
35. 314 Alex WOHLER (QLD) 37:58.12 +4:16
36. 305 Kevin HAWES (NSW) 38:06.61 +4:24
37. 293 Jordan KERBY (QLD) 38:07.80 +4:25
38. 311 Lachlan AMBROSE (SA) 38:19.91 +4:37
39. 315 Shaun O’CALLAGHAN (VIC) 38:21.30 +4:39
40. 327 Oliver KENT-SPARK (VIC) 38:50.08 +5:08
41. 308 Jared TRIGGS (NSW) 38:50.31 +5:08
42. 303 Benjamin HILL (NSW) 38:58.11 +5:16
43. 318 Daniel O’KEEFE (NSW) 38:58.14 +5:16
44. 310 Stephen BOMBALL (ACT) 39:12.40 +5:30
45. 304 Mitchell CODNER (NSW) 39:57.01 +6:15
46. 329 Douglas FREEBURN (QLD) 40:17.74 +6:35
47. 325 Darcy WOOLLEY (VIC) 41:47.42 +8:05
dns 330 Stefan IMBERGER (VIC)
dns 324 Fraser NORTHEY (SA)
dns 331 Merlin SPRANZ (SA)
dns 294 Patrick LANE (VIC)

Average speed of the winner: 48.25 km/h
Number of starters: 47