5 things we learnt from the Elite time trials at the 2022 UCI World Championships

After great anticipation, Australia’s home world championships are underway in Wollongong.

Yesterday was the first time the elite men and women competed on the same day and on the same course in the UCI Road World Championships individual time trial.

We also saw the first-ever rainbow jersey awarded in the under-23 women’s individual time trial. That history-making honour went to Vittoria Guazzini of Italy.

Here are five takeaways from the opening day of Wollongong 2022.

1. Grace Brown is the real deal

Photo: Stu Baker

Since 2018, when Grace Brown won the Oceania time trial title, the Victorian has been building herself into a world-class rider against the clock.

She won the Australian time trial championship in 2019, but a major result against the world’s best eluded her – until this year.

Brown came mightily close in 2021, when she finished fourth at the Tokyo Olympic Games. She may not have won a medal then, but you sensed that a podium was within reach.

This year, the Victorian has stepped up another notch: she won her second Australian title, then collected Commonwealth Games gold.

Now, by winning a World Championship silver medal yesterday, the 30-year-old from St Kilda Cycling Club has truly confirmed that she is one of the world’s best time triallists.

Without downplaying her previous achievements, this time, Brown took on the best of the best. She claimed the scalps of European champion Marlen Reusser and former world champion Annemiek van Vleuten. It took a “phenomenal” ride by Ellen van Dijk (in Brown’s own words) to deny her a rainbow jersey on home soil.

“It gives me a lot of confidence that in the years to come I can really be one of the top names in time-trialling,” Brown said in the press conference after the race.

We’d argue that she’s already up there.

2. Plapp and Baker have big time trial dreams

Photo: Getty Sport

Luke Plapp and Georgia Baker share a lot in common.

They’re in a relationship, yes, but both are successful track cyclists and Tokyo 2020 Olympians.

For both, 2022 marked the start of a new chapter on the road: for Plapp, it’s his first year as a pro; for Baker, a return to Team BikeExchange-Jayco.

But yesterday, we learnt that Plapp and Baker share similar goals: to hone their craft against the clock, with a view to becoming among the world’s best.

Baker was targeting a top-10 finish yesterday. She placed eighth. Now, the Tasmanian from Northern Districts Cycling Club is hungry for more.

“I’m always someone that strives for the best,” Baker said.

“I would be happy with top 10, but now I am in the top 10, and I’d love to be on that podium.”

Plapp, on the other hand, dreams of following in the footsteps of Australia’s previous time trial world champions, Michael Rogers and Rohan Dennis.

Yesterday’s race was Plapp’s first appearance at an elite UCI Road World Championships.

A 12th place finish is a solid foundation from which the 21-year-old can build for the future. He has a rainbow jersey and the Brisbane 2032 Olympics in mind.

“I do hope in the next 10 years I can slowly build towards that. I think Brisbane would be an amazing goal. It’s a long way away, but I think we have a lot of time to build,” Plapp said.

“I hope I can fill the shoes that the Aussie men have left, because there is a great legacy and history with Australian men’s time trialling and I’d love to be a part of that.”

Watch this space.

3. Van Dijk is untouchable

Photo: Getty Sport

Before yesterday’s time trial, the Netherland’s Ellen van Dijk was the clear favourite.

The powerful Dutchwoman was the defending champion. She’d won the last six individual time trials she’d competed in, except one (the European championship, where she placed second).

In May, van Dijk smashed the women’s Hour Record by riding 49.254 kilometres.

Yesterday, the 35-year-old was the last rider off the start ramp in downtown Wollongong.

Grace Brown had sat in the race leader’s hot seat for nearly two hours, and as rider after rider crossed the line behind Brown’s time, Australian fans began to dream of a fairytale coming true.

But it was not to be.

The orange flash of Ellen van Dijk tore around the Wollongong circuit, mastering the up-and-down undulations, the left-and-right switches, and the flat final straight like no-one else could.

She was fastest at every checkpoint, completely in control, and, when she’d completed the 34.2-kilometre race, she was 12 seconds to the good of Grace Brown, earning her a third career World Championship in the discipline.

In 2022, van Dijk stands head and shoulders above the rest.

4. Jet lag is real

Photo: Getty Sport

Cycling’s heartland is on the other side of the globe, as Australian fans are all too aware.

Three weeks at a time, three times a year, we live the bleary-eyed burden of the Grand Tours, watching the world’s best race late into the night.

This year, at Wollongong 2022, the tables have turned.

For once, we’re watching on home soil, in Australian Eastern Standard Time, and it’s kind of jarring – what’s the sun doing up there while a bike race is on?

It’s just as discomfiting for the European athletes. Wollongong is probably the farthest east they’ve travelled since 2019, when the Tour of Guangxi was last held.

The 24 hours of flying, plus the 8-hour time zone difference, does things to the body.

Sure, jet lag affects each individual differently, but there’s no doubt that the distance had an impact on some riders’ performances.

That includes riders like Remco Evenepoel, who won the gruelling Vuelta a España exactly a week before taking bronze yesterday.

"I feel I can fall asleep already now," Evenepoel said tiredly in his post-race press conference.

"The season is getting quite long. I just hope I can recover well and get to Sunday with fresh legs because I will need them for a seven-hour race."

Travelling forced him to spend two days away from the bike – hardly ideal preparation for the race of truth.

“Actually today was the first day I started to feel a bit normal,” Evenepoel said.

“At the start of week, actually, I was not good at all. I was a bit scared for today, to be honest.”

With the best part of a week between now and the elite road races, we hope and expect all the riders to be adapted, ready to perform at their best on the weekend.

5. Wollongong’s course is tricky, but beautiful

The beachfront finishing straight of the Wollongong 2022 course. (Photo: Stu Baker)

When first announced, the courses for Wollongong 2022 attracted plenty of excitement.

The steep climbs of the road race – Mount Keira and Mount Pleasan – stole headlines due to their difficulty.

But, as we identified, the time trial courses brought challenges of their own.

With almost 30 corners on each lap, they were tests of handling and confidence as much as power and aerodynamics.

Add the up-and-down nature of Wollongong’s undulating roads, and the riders found it difficult to settle into a rhythm.

Gone were the flat, straight dragstrips of the Flemish low country. This was a World Championship course that required specific preparation, as elite men’s silver medallist Stefan Kung explained.

“It’s a bit punchy, a bit left-right, a lot of changes of rhythm – it suits me quite well,” Kung said.

“I would have preferred this year’s course over last year where it was just like 20km straight. I adjusted my training according to the course. Together with my coach we really looked into it.”

The new world champion, Tobias Foss, mastered the course. By saving energy earlier, he pulled back a 12-second deficit to Kung in the final 10km or so.

“The game plan today was using the terrain well in the first lap and going hard in the hardest part, but still trying to recover a bit where the speed was high, especially with the downhills before the corners,” Foss said.

“And then on the flat part I was trying to hold a bit back to having a nice progression through the race.

“When I crossed the finish line the first time it was all about leaving everything out there, but also still have something left because the last 6km was quite tough and also a bit mentally too – it was a long straight.”

There's no doubt, though, that the course is beautiful. With she sun shining brightly on Sunday, Wollongong was on display in all its coastal splendour. Shots from the air of golden beaches, blue seas and spectacular hills are being beamed all around the world this week.

Most of yesterday’s course will be used throughout the rest of the week – so we’ll become very familiar with the terrain by the end of Sunday.

To learn more about the green-and-gold campaign at Wollongong 2022, read the Australian guide to the 2022 UCI Road World Championships.

Feature photo: Getty Sport