InForm- Make rider, Carter Turnbull will don the green and gold at the UCI Junior World Championship Road Race in Innsbruck, Austria, for the first time in his young career.

Turnbull, along with fellow Aussies Luke Plapp and Tyler Lindorff will pin on the numbers for the testing 126.8km in the pursuit of the prestigious Rainbow Jersey on Thursday afternoon (CET).

Turnbull was selected for the World Championships off the back of his impressive 2018 results at both the under 19 Australian National Championships Road Race where he collected 3rd and the under 19 Oceania Championship Road Race, in which he was victorious over the rugged terrain of Northern Tasmania in less than ideal conditions.

The parcour in Innsbruck is hilly in nature and suits the climbing characteristics of Turnbull. The route has a handful of lumps and bumps in the first 84.8km which act as an entrée to the final 23.8km local laps around Innsbruck, which the Junior Men will tackle twice. Included in the local laps is a 7.9km accent before the plunge down to the finish line. A total of 1916 meters of elevation gain is on the menu for Junior Men’s peloton.

When speaking to Turnbull, he was an advocate of the course.

“The course looks good, the hills aren’t too challenging by themselves but combined with a hard race beforehand, they’ll be really tough. The course suits me fairly well so I’m keen to see how it goes,”

The combination of a challenging course mixed with having a team of only three riders presents an interesting dynamic, but Turnbull is aware of the thorny circumstances and is ready for the test that lies ahead.

“The team is looking for a strong performance, so having a small team we’ll have to see how the other countries race it, but we hope to have someone up in the medals.”

In preparation for the World Championships, Turnbull competed in the Cycling Australia National Road Series (NRS) with InForm- Make to seek some solid racing condition and said the environment both on and off the bike with InForm-Make was conducive to doing so. His NRS campaign culminated with a superb sixth overall at the Sam Miranda Tour of the King Valley against the countries best domestic cyclists.

“In preparation (for the Worlds) I did a fair bit of racing, doing four NRS tours with InForm- Make. I find racing is a great way to get race fit.”

The Road World Championships creates a unique setting in which the whole Australian Team come together for the week of racing. It provides an opportunity for the junior riders like Turnbull to experience what being an elite cyclist is all about and to learn what it means to wear the green and gold.

“It’s pretty cool representing Australia, with all the team vehicles and staff, along with staying at the same accommodation as the elite riders.”

The UCI Road World Championships concludes on Sunday with Elite Men’s Road Race.