Team riders from both the men’s and women’s squads made their debuts on new bikes featuring CADEX WheelSystems. Ruby Roseman-Gannon led the way, scoring the team’s first major win of the year by claiming a national title in the elite women’s criterium event. In men’s racing, Luke Durbridge also landed a podium, earning silver in the elite men’s time trial.
Roesman-Gannon, a new recruit to the team this year, has had an impressive start to her season. After taking two wins and the overall at the Bay Crits series while riding on a mixed team, she came to the Australian nationals in Ballarat, located in the Central Highlands of Victoria, as a pre-race favorite. Riding with her CADEX 65 WheelSystem, the 22-year-old handled the pressure just fine, living up to the moment to take her first elite national championship title.
Roseman-Gannon’s teammate Alex Manly controlled the race throughout, despite being caught in a crash inside the first 30 minutes of action. Manly constantly shut down dangerous moves until a strong group of nine, including Roseman-Gannon, broke away inside the final 10 laps.
It looked like the two-time runner-up would have to battle for the gold alone, but with three laps to go, Manly bridged across the gap to make it two Team BikeExchange-Jayco riders at the head of the race. Manly then charged to the front of the bunch on the final lap, helping to put Roseman-Gannon in perfect position.
"I wanted this for a very long time and to finish it off in my first race in full Team BikeExchange-Jayco kit means so much,” said Roseman-Gannon. “I can’t thank Alex Manly enough. She rides for people all the time, she is the most selfless rider, and I couldn’t have done it without her.”
Silver for Durbridge
Riding his CADEX Aero WheelSystem with a full-disc rear and 4-spoke front setup, Durbridge also made good use of his debut race in the Team BikeExchange-Jayco colors. The four-time Aussie TT national champion finished second to Rohan Dennis in the elite men's time trial to claim the silver medal. He finished the 37.5km course in 46:45, 1:03 back from Dennis.
“I was hoping for the win today, but Rohan was on a very good ride,” Durbridge said. “He’s world class and one of the best time trial riders in the world. Sometimes at nationals I can get the better of him, but not this year.”
Both Durbridge and Roseman-Gannon also turned in solid top-10 efforts in the road race events. Durbridge rode a seventh-place finish in the men's race, and Roseman-Gannon just missed the podium, finishing fourth in the women's race.