On his fourth attempt at winning an Australian National title, Rohan Dennis (BMC Racing Team) can finally call himself a national champion after taking the victory at the Australian National ITT Championships.
With the fastest time at the mid-way point, he increased his advantage over his teammate Riche Porte, who made his debut for the BMC Racing Team on the return journey to claim the title in a time of 51:13 minutes. He crossed the finish line 38 seconds ahead of Porte, and 1:34 minutes ahead of Sean Lake (Avanti).
Dennis’ Tour de France victory last July opened the floodgates for the 25-year-old who has started to turn near misses against the clock into victories. At last year’s National Championships, Dennis had the quickest time at the half-way point but his pacing for the second half was off causing him to lose the title by seven seconds to Porte.
2016 was a different story however, with Dennis building on his advantage from the intermediate point to ensure a comfortable victory over Porte. “It’s always been a dream to win the Aussie nationals. I’ve won the Under 23’s and now I’ve got a senior medal. To be able to wear the green and gold in every time trial this year is a true honour.
We can have a bit of a celebration tonight and say job well-done for Thursday. I put a lot of pressure on myself to be the best at whatever I aim to be at, so the time trial at Rio is my big goal for this year.”
Runner-up Porte was happy with the result in his first race for the team. “It was more of a relaxed start to the year but I’m happy to be on the podium to be honest and I’m not surprised that Rohan has taken this win. He deserves it, he’s hungry and I know how much he’s wanted that national jersey.”
“We’re teammates now so I’m thrilled to see him win. I’ve been waiting to put the (BMC Racing Team) colours on and I’m happy. It’s a great team and I’m really looking forward to 2016. To be a month into the season and to finish second to a class time trialist like Rohan is a great way to start the season.”
