Rohan Dennis secures time trial double gold for Australia

Rohan Dennis secured the time trial double for Australia with victory on the streets of Wolverhampton.

The Australian took advantage of an early crash from Geraint Thomas as the Welshman could not make up the time lost after he overcooked a corner and crashed into a barrier.

Dennis completed the 37.4km course in a time of 46:21.24, 26.28 seconds clear of England’s Fred Wright, who claimed silver.

Thomas had to settle for bronze, 28.49 adrift of Dennis.

Dennis was delighted to finally realizing the dream of winning Commonwealth gold.

He said: “I’ve finally got that top step. It’s taken 12 years, since Delhi [2010 Games]. I definitely didn’t come close to that top step there but 12 years later I finally got it.”

Dennis struggled to compare it to his Olympic bronze in Tokyo and added: “That’s a tough one. The Olympics was my first individual medal at an Olympic Games so it’s hard to beat. But it is a different feeling being on that top step. It’s a little hard to compare, it’s special either way.”

Wright was among the early runners, effectively spending more than two hours in the hot seat until being shunted aside by Dennis at the last.

Still, this was another excellent result for the 23-year-old who lit up several stages of the Tour in the breakaways, finishing second on stage 13 into Saint Etienne.

“It was quite a long wait, I must say!” Wright said. “I’m so happy with my shape. Coming into something like this after the Tour can either be on fire or a bit fatigued. I’d like to say I was on fire.

“To be mixing it with the likes of G (Thomas) and Rohan, I knew I’d do a good TT today. ‘G’ would have had me if I’d not crashed today but it’s still a medal.”

Thomas was left to reflect on the bad timing of his spill.

“Sometimes it’s just pure bad luck but I’d say today I take it on the chin as my fault,” he said. “I was keen to try to do my best ride. I felt every corner was not full so I don’t have to brake too much, I was wrong with that.

“I knew Rohan was going to be super good. I had to be on the limit but for it to happen so early on is one of those things.”

 

Source: BC2022