It's been quite a season for Jack Bobridge. Tipped for greatness by Lance Armsrong after his aggressive riding in the Tour Down Under, Bobridge then secured a silver medal for Australia in the World Track Championships. And now, in the men's U-23 Time Trial, he's struck gold.
"I thought the course was a bit too tough for me when I saw it earlier in the year, it's far harder than it looks on paper," Bobridge said afterwards.
"I thought someone bigger and stronger than me would have a better chance."
"But I had a really good ride, and it's topped off what's been an awesome year for me."
Second behind the Australian on the 33.2 kilometre course was Portugal's Nelson Oliveira, 18 seconds back. German Patrick Gretsch took the bronze.
GB's Alex Dowsett took an impressive seventh at 43 seconds. After catching his minute-man, Switzerland's Nicolas Schneider, Dowsett kept his pace despite Schneider partly blocking him for an above-expectations result.
"I'm really pleased, I've been working on this for a month," Dowsett told Cycling Weekly. "Last year it all went wrong, this year it all went right."
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The big disappointment of the day was for last year's winner, Adriano Malori of Italy, who could only take fifth despite taking five races in the build-up to the World Championships.
This was just the opposite case for Bobridge, who started off taking Australia's U-23 titles for both the road and the time trial and since then has gone from strength to strength.
Just 20 years old, Bobridge has now signed for Garmin-Slipstream in 2010 for three years, and will be looking for more major results on the road next season.
Results
World Championships 2009: Under-23 men, individual time trial, 33.2km
1. Jack Bobridge (Australia) in 40-44
2. Nelson Oliveira (Portugal) at 19sec
3. Patrick Gretsch (Germany) at 28sec
4. Marcel Kittel (Germany) at 35sec
5. Adriano Malori (Italy) at 37sec
6. Alfredo Balloni (Italy) at 39sec
7. Alex Dowsett (Great Britain) at 44sec
8. Jarc Blaz (Slovenia) at 1-00
9. Rasmus Christian Quaade (Denmark) at 1-07
10. David Veilleux (Canada) at 1-12
Britain's Alex Dowsett in action
Jack Bobridge
Jack Bobridge looks happy with his new jersey
Road World Championships 2009: Related links
Men's under-23 time trial as it happened
Road World Championships 2009: Cycling Weekly's full coverage index
News
It's Cavendish or Stannard for final worlds place
Great Britain names world championships team
Millar won't ride worlds time trial despite Vuelta win
Wiggins quits Tour of Britain to focus on worlds TT
Out of sorts Cooke abandons Tour de l'Ardeche
Cavendish keen to ride worlds despite illness
Millar set to lead GB road race team at the Worlds
Brits head home to fight for worlds places
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