“I’d die and then I’d come back, I’d die and then I’d come back, yeah, I died half a dozen deaths out there, it was way harder than the time trial.”
So said the new superman of Australian cycling – Luke Durbridge.
There is almost nothing he can’t achieve and if there is any Kryptonite-type substance out there that can stop him, it is yet to be found.
The 22-year-old bookended the Australian Nationals with two dominant performances, with yesterday’s elite men’s road race victory even more impressive than last Wednesday’s individual time trial.
He was the sole survivor of a seven-man break which led the field right from the first lap, a break which was travelling so well early that the entire peloton was in some danger of being pulled from the race.
A ten-minute gap would have seen embarrassing consequences, but luckily for the thousands of spectators who had made the trek to Buninyong, the time difference peaked at around seven and a half minutes before gradually being brought down.
The race even had ‘Turbo’ to thank for that.
“It’s just one of those things, we’ve got so many numbers, we had to always keep the advantage,” he explained after the race.
“If we had lapped the field, well we had 15 riders, so we would have cut down our advantage, so it’s best to have (the numbers).
If it had all come back (together) then Michael Matthews would have won. So we had all situations covered.”
“So I just sat on for ten kilometres and then started to ride through again. It was nothing serious, just making sure you are conserving energy because it is such a long race. And I conserved, but everyone was missing turns every now and then, everyone was conserving here and there.”
“I worked out two days ago that if the break took ten minutes it was a lap. I don’t think all the people came out here to watch seven guys race around, so I was kind of glad that we didn’t get ten minutes.”
For Durbo though, the result would have been the same regardless. His seven-man break fought bravely, but gradually fell by the wayside, losing two at a time. From seven, to five, to a select three of Durbridge, Bernie Salzburger and home town hero Pat Shaw, the break held on.
Jack Bobridge and Richie Porte tried to drive the peloton across. They would take time one lap, and lose it again the next, until just Durbridge remained. But by then it was too late.
I wrote last week that Durbridge is a brute on the bike. That his mere physical presence is imposing and perhaps even slightly intimidating.
I wrote that after seeing him stamp on the pedals to accelerate out of the corners at the Ritchie Boulevard stage of the Bay Classic.
Now I have seen him tame the Mount Buninyong circuit I need to upgrade him from brute to colossus.
How else can you describe a man, a relatively big man by cycling’s standards, who can take on the 14 ascents of the awkward Buninyong climb with such devastating effect?
But should we be surprised? Durbridge has all ready shown glimpses of his all round abilities. At last year’s Circuit Cycliste Sarthe – Pays de la Loire, in what was only his second visit to France, an injury restricted Durbridge still managed to claim overall victory in the four-day race.
His win was built on the back of a high order individual time trial, but it had to be staunchly defended on the penultimate stage which ended in a circuit that climbed the 10 percent gradient of Mont des Avaloirs five times.
Suffering from knee tendinitis, and without full support of his GreenEdge team which was decimated by illness and injury, young Durbridge held on.
“I’ve proven last year through some one week stage races that I can actually climb reasonably good in some of those shorter climbs for a big guy,” said Durbridge after his national time trial victory.
“Even this year I’m one or two kilos lighter than I was the year before, so I might be able to gradually lose a bit of weight (over the next) couple of years and then be able to climb better and better.”
That developing climbing ability has earned Durbridge the right to wear a national champions jersey in every race he competes in this season, including the Giro d’Italia, which is looming large on the young Australian’s horizon.
“I think I’m riding my first Grand Tour this year which is the Giro d’Italia. I think for me, my next big goal is to put myself into some really good condition and head to the Giro and try and help the team in the team time trial.
“Also there is a long time trial, I think stage eight, so I really want to put my hand up and have a go for that. That’s probably the next big objective, but I have a few mini-objectives, semi-classics, some one week tours, but other than that the Giro is the next big focus.”
The one blip on his radar thus far was a disappointing 2012 world championships, but as he explains, he has learnt from his experience.
“Last year at the worlds wasn’t my best time trial. It was my first full season away from home and I sort of suffered a little bit when I came to really going deep in Valkenburg there, but that’s okay, you learn from your mistakes.
“I think Michael Rogers said he was 21st in his first open time trial so I sort of took that on board and said, okay, it’s only one year and I’ll grow stronger from that and hopefully go back this year and go a bit better.”
If he does ‘go a bit better’ then the inevitable comparisons that are already being made with Fabian Cancellara will grow ever stronger.
It is a huge burden to place on the shoulders of one still so young, but one gets the sense that nothing is impossible for this rider.
It is hard to believe that such a powerhouse on the bike is only just into his second year as a pro.
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