Durbridge Overcomes Machnical Flaw to Podium Finish

Published On: 7 September 2011

Australian U23 time trial champion and 2010 world championship silver medallist, Luke Durbridge (Jayco-AIS) recovered from a mechanical mishap to finish third in the Memorial Davide Fardelli time trial in Rogno, Italy.

WAIS scholarship holder Durbridge covered the 23.5km in 30:23.83mins, 35 seconds behind Russian winner Anton Vorobyev.

The event was raced in torrential rain and a problem with his gears forces Durbridge to change bikes after six kilometres. Unfortunately for him the spare bike of team mate Damien Howson was smaller in size than was ideal for ‘turbo Durbo’.

Earlier in the day Howson had also struck trouble when he needed a rear wheel change five kilometres from the finish. But he rode on to place ninth at 1:27.

The 2011 Cycling Australia U15 & U17 Road National Championships concluded on Sunday with 200 of Australia’s best junior cyclists putting on three days of sensational racing in Shepparton.

Western Australian athletes featured prominently, with a selection of junior WAIS scholarship holders showing they have the ability to follow in the footsteps of the current crop of WAIS world champions, including; Cameron Meyer, Josie Tomic, Sarah Kent, Luke Durbridge and Michael Freiberg.

WAIS athlete Reece Tucknott earned a top ten finish in the men’s U17 time-trial with the seventh fastest time. Fellow WA athlete Sam Welsford claimed second position. In the women’s U17 time trial, three WAIS scholarship holders earned top five positions, with Kelsey Robson (second), Tian Beckett (third) and Elissa Wundersitz (fifth) all in good form.

In the U15 time-trial ranks, WAIS athlete Matt Jackson was second in the boys event, whilst WA’s best in the girls was Jemila Anderson in 11th.

In the U17 men’s road race, Jackson Mawby claimed the race win, whilst Tucknott was the best of the WAIS contingent in 25th. Elissa Wundersitz was the best ranked WAIS athlete in the women’s in 20th. In the boys U15, Matt Jackson finished second, whilst in the U17 criteriums, Theo Yates, Elissa Wundersitz and Tian Beckett all recorded top 20 finishes.