Photo credit: Con Chronis

Our cyclists are bringing energy into the New Year, achieving impressive results at the 2024 Federation University Road National Championships Ballarat.

On the opening day, Wil Holmes won the under-19 time trial national championships after finishing at the runner-up in 2023.

All eyes were on pre-race favourite Holmes, who was last to start. The South Australian delivered an assured performance of 24 minutes 26 seconds to blitz Tasmanian Alex Eaves’ time by over half a minute.

This Australian title – his first ever in the road time trial – complements Holmes’ victory in the Oceania time trial championships last year.

“It's good to finally win. It's been a lot of training and hard work to get to this position. After last year, it was good learning to realise what level I have to be at. It's good to be up there now to get the gold medal,” Holmes said.

“It's a really hard course to get technically right, so doing it last year was good, to be able to have the knowledge to know which part of the course to go hardest on and where you can gain the most time. The first part and last part of the course are really important to focus on.”

For Darren Hicks, he got his year off to a strong start winning a national title in both the Para individual time trial and Para road race.

In the Men’s C2 event for the individual time trial, Hicks’ race was hampered by a mechanical issue that delayed his start.

“I think I rode ‘okay’,” Hicks said. “Sitting there for 20 minutes and getting cold didn’t help. The numbers weren’t where we expected or liked them to be. But the processes were fine, I was calm; it was nice to know that I can get through an awkward start to a race and still perform.

“We’ll put that one in the memory bank and make sure the bike works for the World Cup in a week’s time.”

Meg Lemon also came close to bringing home two gold medals where she won the Para Road Race but a mechanical fault saw her fall just short of claiming first place in the Para Individual Time Trial.

Lemon threw down the gauntlet early in the Time Trial where she established an impressive lead by setting a scorching pace up the climb.

Congratulations to all of our cyclists on their results:

𝗝𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗼𝗿 𝗠𝗲𝗻 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗱𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗧𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹

1^st Wil Holmes

𝗝𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗼𝗿 𝗪𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗱𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗧𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹

5^th Leani van der Berg

𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗮 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗱𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗧𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗠𝗖𝟮

1^st Darren Hicks

𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗮 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗱𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗧𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗠𝗛𝟰

1^st Grant Allen

𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗮 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗱𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗧𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗪𝗖𝟰

2^nd Meg Lemon

𝗨𝟮𝟯 𝗠𝗲𝗻 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗱𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗧𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹

4^th Zac Marriage

9^th Oliver Bleddyn

11^th Angus Miller

15^th Josh Cranage

𝗝𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗼𝗿 𝗠𝗲𝗻 𝗥𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗥𝗮𝗰𝗲

2^nd Wil Holmes

𝗘𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗪𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻 𝗥𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗥𝗮𝗰𝗲

6^th Amber Pate

𝗨𝟮𝟯 𝗠𝗲𝗻 𝗥𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗥𝗮𝗰𝗲

14^th Zac Marriage

𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗮 𝗥𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗥𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗪𝗖𝟰

1^st Meg Lemon

𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗮 𝗥𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗥𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗠𝗖𝟮

1^st Darren Hicks

𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗮 𝗥𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗥𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗠𝗲𝗻 𝗕

2^nd Beau Wootton (pilot Max Coleman)