Hepburn bested Luke Durbridge’s time by 11 seconds and third place finisher Damien Howson by more than two minutes – around the 45 kilometer course in Burrumbeet.
Tim Roe, set the early pace in today’s time trial – with a time of just under one hour. Ben Dyball followed with the second fastest time – at just under an hour as well.
Rohan Dennis was not as successful, however, as he was blown off of his bike by a strong gust of wind.
At the final two kilometer marked, Hepburn set today’s fastest time at 56:25. Meanwhile, Durbridge set the fastest time to the 22 kilometer mark, but faded in the final kilometers. And, while almost being caught by Durbridge in the final 100 meters, Howson finished with the third best time.
"Going into the race I was hoping for a good ride and hopefully a podium result. In the couple of days since the bay crits I was a little bit tired and off the bike," Hepburn said of his pre-race preperation.
"This morning on the ergo I could feel the legs were getting better. I had one time check out there and I was down 30 seconds on Durbridge know that he can go out quite strong so I was trying to keep on the power."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYSMEOaxOsY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBkjgfzK648
Elite Men’s Time Trial: 45km, Burrumbeet
1 Michael HEPBURN (QLD) Orica-GreenEDGE 56min 25.90sec 2 Luke DURBRIDGE (WA) Orica-GreenEDGE 00:00:11 3 Damien HOWSON (SA) Orica-GreenEDGE 00:02:06 4 Ben DYBALL (NSW) Avanti Pro Cycling 00:02:35 5 William CLARKE (TAS) Drapac Pro Cycling 00:02:51 6 Timothy ROE (SA) Budget Forklifts 00:03:11 7 Marc WILLIAMS (ACT) Budget Forklifts 00:04:01 8 Matthew CLARK (VIC) Charter Mason 00:04:17 9 Jack ANDERSON (QLD) Drapac Pro Cycling 00:04:28 10 Jacob KAUFFMANN (NSW) Budget Forklifts 00:04:40
Felicity Wardell won the elite women’s event – ahead of three-time defending champion Shara Gillow and former winner Bridie O’ Donnell today..
Lauren Kitchen set the fastest time in today’s race. However, that did not last long, as eight riders came to easily surpass her mark – with faster times of more than 3 minutes in some cases.
Today’s time trial concluded with Gillow finishing 32 seconds behind Wardell, and O’Donnell a further five seconds behind her. Katrin Garfoot and Tiffany Cromwell were the only other riders who managed to finish within a minute of Wardlaw’s tim.
While on the podium, an excited Wardlaw told the crowd:
"I can’t believe I’m standing up here with a gold medal."
"There is a lot of talent out there: Shara, Bridie, Tiff (Cromwell), there all fantastic time trialists," Wardlaw said.
"They race so well and I thank them because they pushed me really hard. It was a fantastic day."
Elite Women Time Trial: 28km, Burrumbeet
1 Felicity WARDLAW (VIC) 38min 46.64sec 2 Shara GILLOW (QLD) 0:00:32.2 3 Bridie O’DONNELL (VIC) 0:00:37.1 4 Katrin GARFOOT (QLD) 0:00:38.2 5 Tiffany CROMWELL (SA) 0:00:54.8 6 Gracie ELVIN (ACT) 0:01:02.5 7 Amanda SPRATT (NSW) 0:01:46.0 8 Taryn HEATHER (VIC) 0:01:53.6 9 Lauren KITCHEN (NSW) 0:02:43.8 10 Louisa LOBIGS (QLD) 0:02:52.7
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