Pat Eddy Completes Under 19 Double
Pat Eddy completed The Cycling Australia Road National Championships Under 19 Men double today in Buninyong winning the Time Trial by 11 seconds in front of Harry Morgan. Sam Eddy finished 5th and Ben Jones finished 30th respectively.
The 21.6-kilometre parcour was a testing out and back course. With hardly a flat piece of road and a headwind on the way home, having a controlled effort was the key today.
P. Eddy rolled down the ramp at 12:47 pm and started like he had been shot out of a cannon. Assisted by the tailwind, he flew the turnaround point and then set the coordinates for the finish.
“I went out pretty hard, but I knew coming back would be tricky with the wind, “Eddy said.
Passing several riders on the way home was a good sign that the 16-year-old was on a good one. Importantly, the young head on young shoulders had left enough in the tank for the push back to the finish in Buninyong. Eddy looked to be running out of gas in the last five kilometres but dug deep into his reserves to finish as strong as he had started, muscling the biggest gear he had to the line.
“On the way back I tried to save myself a bit, I knew that last five kilometres were tough. I was really struggling with three to go and when I saw the sign for the last kilometre I just went for it and gave it all I had.”
As a first year under 19, he has done the Road Race, Time Trial double, a feat that was beyond his goals before arriving in Buninyong.
“It feels incredible, I didn’t come here thinking I could do what I’ve just done, but it a great feeling.”
Team DS Pat Lane said that these championships could hardly have gone better for InForm TM Insight MAKE so far.
“Three Gold medals and a Silver medal with one more race to come is just unbelievable really. We came here knowing that we were a chance in a few races, but for it to actually pan out this way is just the perfect start for 2019. Everyone has worked so hard over the last few months and for it to be paying off now is really nice to see.”
The under 23 Men’s Time Trial is tomorrow morning.
Luke Plapp, Rudy Porter, Tom Benton, David Williams, Will Moloney- Morton and Carter Turnbull are the InForm TM Insight MAKE riders hitting the start ramp tomorrow.