Australia dominate day one of Oceania Road Cycling Championships – Insidethegames.biz

Australia emphatically won all six gold medals in the time trial races on the opening day of the Oceania Road Cycling Championships in Canberra today.

Sean Lake retained his title in the men's elite time trial after storming to the gold medal, winning by nearly a minute.

The 25-year-old crossed the line in a time of 54 min 32.7sec after dominating the race around the 41 kilometres course.

Another Australian, Ben Dyball, took second in 55:25.4 while the podium was completed by New Zealands Hamish Bond, a two-time Olympic gold medallist rower, in 55:32.1.

Lucy Kennedy added a second gold medal for the hosts when she edged the women's elite race in a close battle, with the top three separated by just 17sec.

The 28-year-old completed the 25km course in 40:4.2, edging compatriot Rebecca Mackey, who took second place in 40:15.1.

An Australia one-two-three was then complete when Lisen Hockings crossed the line in third in 40:20.9.

"This is my first title and it feels like a nice reward for a lot of hard work," said Kennedy.

"Fourth place is hard to take, being so close to a podium.

"I was certainly hoping to make the podium this year and to take the win is extra special.

"The first half was much easier with a lot of downhill, but with such a tough return judging your pace is difficult.

"Conditions were great and a hilly time trial course suits me well so I took advantage of the climbs which I'm sure is where I made up time."

Australian dominance then filtered down to under-23 and under-19 categories.

A close battle saw Jaime Gunning snatch gold in women's under-23 race in a time of 41:6.3, just 1.4sec ahead of Mikayla Harvey of New Zealand.

Harvey was forced to settle for silver in 41:07.7 while she was joined on the podium by Madeline Park, also of New Zealand, who took bronze in 41:45.1.

Australia's Liam Magennis produced a stunning ride to win the under-23 men's crown, as he improved on his fourth place finish in 2016 to take the gold medal in 42:57.7.

Magennis was joined on the podium by fellow Australians Jason Lea and Cyrus Monk who took second and third, in 43:26.3 and 43:39.4, respectively.

In the under-19 women's time trial Australia's Maeve Moroney-Plouffe stormed to gold, covering the 14km course in 21:44.5, having claimed four medals at the Australian Track Championships last weekend in Brisbane.

Silver went to Libby Arbuckle of New Zealand in 21:55.4, 11sec behind Moroney-Plouffe, while Australia's Madeleine Fasnacht finished in third place in 21:58.0.

Sebastian Berwick completed today's Australian dominance when he claimed the under-19 men's title in 36:14.7.

Thomas Jones took silver in 36:53.2 with Mitchell Wright rounded off the top three in 37:09.2, completing another sweep of the podium for the Australians.

Tomorrow marks the start of the road races with all three women's races taking place.

The men's road races then bring the action to a close on Saturday (March 11).

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Australia dominate day one of Oceania Road Cycling Championships - Insidethegames.biz