Meyer Competes in Switzerland
WAIS Junior World Champion cyclist Travis Meyer has competed in the U23 time trial at the 2009 UCI Road Cycling World Championships in Mendrisio, Switzerland over night.
Meyer had the unfavourable draw of second rider out, meaning he had no splits or lures to chase, but still competed well to capture a 17th place finish.
Fellow Australian Jack Bobridge starred on the day, taking the gold medal with an incredible ride over the 33.2 km circuit.
Bobridge is the first Australian to claim the U23 time trial crown and it caps off a remarkable season for the youngster. He won both the U23 time trial and U23 road race crowns at the Australian Championships and notched up another six wins on the road including stages in the Tour of Japan and the Thuringen Tour in Germany. He also claimed two silver medals (individual pursuit and team pursuit) at the Track World Championships in March.
Next year Bobridge will ride in the ProTour ranks with another WAIS cyclist Cameron Meyer in the Garmin-Slipstream. Bobridge came into the Championships with the weight of expectation on his shoulders and admits there were a few people who doubted if he could do the job today after his break from cycling in July.
“I think tonight will hit me a bit harder but at the moment it’s a feeling of disbelief but at the same time pretty emotional because I had a few people who didn’t know whether I had had too much time off or put on too much weight during my break,” said Bobridge. “But I knew what I had to do and I’ve done it and to come out with the world stripes it shows if I put my head down I can show the world what I can do.
“I really needed the break (in July) because I’d been going since the Olympics,” he said. “I didn’t even watch the Tour de France while I was off – just completely no bikes in my head.”
Bobridge also paid credit to Australia’s U23 road coach, Brian Stephens, who was driving in the team car behind Bobridge during his ride screaming through a loudhailer to urge him on. This is the last year Stephens will steer the fortunes of Australia’s young road talent in Europe. He will return to Australia to work with the sport from 2010.
“I didn’t realise it was Brian’s last year till a couple of days ago and you know in the back of my head I wanted to top off a win for ‘Brino’,” said Bobridge. “The amount of effort that ‘Brino’ has put in for so many years and to pull off a win for him in his last year he’s pretty wrapped.
“He’s absolutely sensational and he knows everything – he’s been around for that many years and the suport he’s given me over the last two months – he never doubted me once.”
– With Cycling Australia