‘Riding through hell’: Aussie cyclists take world gold
Ian Chadband |
Amanda Spratt has reflected on how she rode through “hell” to deliver Australia’s cyclists a memorable team time trial triumph for their first gold at the world road championships in Rwanda.
The 38-year-old veteran and teammate Brodie Chapman battled to the line after a brutal ascent over cobblestones amid the stifling heat and humidity of Kigali before hitting the line just over five seconds faster than France to lead the six-strong team to a glorious triumph on Wednesday.
Afterwards, completely spent on the floor, Spratt and Chapman were embraced by their other teammates – time trial silver medallist Jay Vine, comeback man Michael Matthews, national TT champ Luke Plapp and rising star Felicity Wilson-Haffenden – as the Aussies successfully defended the crown they won in Zurich last year.
“I knew from the cobbled climb on, it was just gonna be like hell,” reflected Spratt.
“I just had to ‘push through, push through’ and Brodie was so strong in that last part, I knew I just had to hold her wheel, and it was gonna be close on the timings.”
She wasn’t wrong.
The men had led by 33 seconds after the first hilly 20.9km lap thanks to blistering work from Plapp to take them to the bottom of the climb and Vine’s huge engine, but that lead dwindled as the women took over and Wilson-Haffenden dropped off the pace, leaving everything down to her two experienced teammates.
Cheered on wildly at roadside by her colleagues and with the clock ticking down agonisingly, Spratt and Chapman made it in 54mins 30.47sec — just 5.24sec quicker than France and 10.00sec faster than luckless bronze medallists, Switzerland.
“I could hear Whitey (Matt White), our director, just screaming for us to ‘sprint, sprint, sprint!’,” said Spratt. “We knew it was close, but it’s just so special, just incredible to pull it off with this team.”
It was an emotional day too for another veteran Matthews, a serial winner who returned top of the podium at 34 after a season when there were concerns for his future after he had to miss the Tour de France while diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism.
“It’s not often we get the chance to ride with a full Aussie team,” beamed ‘Bling’ Matthews, the jewellery-loving rider who has a penchant for shiny medals too — this was his eighth representing Australia at world championships on the track and roads.
A member of last year’s golden relay team too alongside Vine and Chapman, he explained: “We only arrived a couple of days ago and didn’t ride out there on the roads until yesterday.
“But I would say it went as perfect as it could. Just being back with the team, mixing it with the girls the last few days, and just putting it together today was just the cherry on top of the cake.”
It might have been different if the Swiss hopes hadn’t evaporated so cruelly when newly crowned world individual TT champion Marlen Reusser had to change her bike during the women’s lap.
Remarkably, she managed to regain the time, rejoin her two colleagues and lead the assault on the cobbled climb, but they inevitably still fell just short.
AAP
