Alex Dowsett turned the anger of missing out on Tour de France selection into his main motivator for the Commonwealth Games time trial, which he narrowly won in Glasgow this afternoon.
Dowsett overturned a slight deficit at the 26.4-kilometre time check to beat Australian Rohan Dennis and his former Sky team-mate Geraint Thomas and take gold on Glasgow Green.
The 25-year-old from Essex won silver in the discipline in the Delhi Games four years ago, but admitted that the disappointment of not being selected for Movistar's Tour squad spurred him on today.
"I spent the whole month angry – not at anyone in particular, just at the situation itself," he said.
"The Commonwealth Games, which were a big target for me, suddenly became huge. I really wanted to do something big after the disappointment of the Tour.
"I've always been the same since I was a kid, I usually pull something big out of the bag when I'm really angry."
Dowsett, who has been coached by Essex-based Mark Walker for the duration of 2014, added that his focus was unwavering for the past four weeks.
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"I was in incredible shape before the Tour. The day I didn't get selected, I converted that towards the time trial," he said.
"Those training sessions where you don't feel like you're quite on the money, normally I might bail and try again tomorrow, I was really digging deep a lot of the time and trying to find that extra little bit.
"On the course today, my power figures were big for a course like that. I think I had 420 watts average which, on a lumpy course is huge for me. Everything's just come together and I've really been able to channel the disappointment in the right way.
"I could've been sitting in a room utterly depressed for a whole month."
(Image credit: Andy Jones)
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Nick Bull is an NCTJ qualified journalist who has written for a range of titles, as well as being a freelance writer at Beat Media Group, which provides reports for the PA Media wire which is circulated to the likes of the BBC and Eurosport. His work at Cycling Weekly predominantly dealt with professional cycling, and he now holds a role as PR & Digital Manager at SweetSpot Group, which organises the Tour of Britain.
