The UCI Time Trial World Championship gold medal has been a long time coming for Rohan Dennis and today in Innsbruck, Austria, the Australian time trial champion pulled on the rainbow jersey and stood on the podium with the gold medal around his neck for the first time in his career.
With 15 career individual time trial victories to his name before today’s race, Dennis had more than proved himself as one on the best time trialists in the World but had not been able to secure the rainbow stripes in previous years.
Coming into the race as a hot favorite, after winning both individual time trials at the Vuelta a España, Dennis more than lived up to expectations with an impressive performance which saw the 28-year-old win by a commanding 1:21 over the 52.5 kilometer course, the biggest winning margin in the event since 2009.
Dennis was the second-to-last rider to roll down the ramp, before reigning World Champion Tom Dumoulin, and settled into a steady rhythm to clock the fastest time at the first intermediate checkpoint, 8.84 in front of Dumoulin.
Dennis powered along the course with perfect technique and gained significant time on the decisive climb in the lead up to the second intermediate time check which confirmed Dennis had increased his lead to a staggering 1:01 over Dumoulin.
With the rainbow jersey in his sights, Dennis remained in control and further increased his advantage in the final 17 kilometers before crossing the line to stop the clock at 1:03.45 and immediately broke into a smile with the realization that he had become the World Champion.
Dumoulin held on to claim the silver medal while Victor Campenaerts completed the podium. Dennis was joined by BMC Racing Team teammate Patrick Bevin in the top ten, with the New Zealander clocking the eighth-fastest time on the day.
“It’s a dream come true to be World Champion,” Dennis said after clinching the victory. “I’ve been chasing this since I was a junior, I’ve never won it in any age group, so to win my first one in seniors is really special. It’s an amazing feeling. There’s a lot of people I have to thank and the first person is my wife. She’s back home and I’m sure she is pretty happy at the moment. Now, I’m just going to enjoy the moment and enjoy the next year in the rainbow jersey and try again next year.
When asked how he stayed in control as he knew he was on the way to winning, Dennis said: “I was being coached from the car by Brad McGee and he gave me confidence at the top of the climb once Dumoulin came through and I was one minute up, and he just kept me calm. I was considering a bit of a victory salute but I wanted to make sure as you are never sure until Tom crosses the line.”
“I held higher power up the hill (today) than I did in the team time trial. I knew that Tom rode the front of the team time trial and he was pushing pretty hard so I had a fairly good idea of what power I needed to hold. I think I was 35 seconds in front at the bottom and when I got to the top I was fairly confident that I had at least done the same time as him,” Dennis concluded.
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