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Mark Renshaw has finally been selected in an Australian squad. After years of the selectors seemingly looking the other way, the Omega Pharma-Quickstep rider has found his way onto the Commonwealth Games road cycling team.
While it may not be the World Championships or the Olympic Games, the Commonwealth Games still offer riders a chance to represent their country, an opportunity that doesn’t come along all that often in road cycling.
When the flag drops in just over a month’s time, rest assured that the streets of Glasgow will be set ablaze by adrenalin-pumping cyclists, each eager to bring home gold for their respective nations.
Despite the early withdrawal of Cadel Evans, Michael Rogers, Richie Porte and Michael Matthews, due to other race plans and objectives, the Australian team is a good one for two reasons. One, it is chock full of talented riders who can hold their own in any competition, and two, it is a team of next generation riders who will work together on national duties well into the future.
As such, Renshaw is the old man of the team, at 31 years of age. The next oldest is 2012 Vuelta a Espana king of the mountain, Simon Clarke at 27.
Then we have the young guns.
Caleb Ewan at 18, Michael Hepburn (22), Luke Durbridge (23), Rohan Dennis (24) and Nathan Haas (25).
The seven-man team may be inexperienced in years, but they are a talented, precocious and confident bunch, more than capable of taking it up to any opposition.
The 168-kilometre parcours, which takes in 12 laps of a 14-kilometre circuit, should suit the sprinters despite a couple of little dips and rises. Last year’s British nationals were held here, on an almost identical course, and Mark Cavendish had no problem dashing off for the win.
That would suggest that Plan A for the Australians will be to prepare for a bunch finish, hence the inclusion of Renshaw. It will be his job to guide the inexperienced Ewan through the traffic and deliver him to a race-winning position with a couple of hundred metres to go. It is a job for which Renshaw is well suited, having performed the same duties for Cavendish back in their glory days at HTC. He didn’t claim the title of ‘best lead out man in the world’ for nothing, and Ewan couldn’t be in better hands.
That Ewan will be the designated sprinter should come as no surprise. The youngster is fast and has already claimed several older and more experienced scalps, both here and abroad. He will be well protected throughout the race by his teammates, each of whom can belt out a strong tempo at the front of the peloton if required.
But the Aussie team has options.
If the race breaks up and riders manage to get up the road, both Clarke and Haas are more than capable of going with them. Clarke is a Vuelta stage winner, while Haas is an all rounder who can seemingly turn his hand to anything. He came from nowhere to win the Jayco Herald Sun Tour in 2011, taming the vicious Arthur’s Seat climb in the process, and hasn’t looked back.
Of course Durbridge is also capable of riding away from a break, as he proved at the Australian nationals back in 2013. But as strong as he may be, he will also have one eye on the time trial.
Although described as challenging, the 40-kilometre circuit for the race against the clock shouldn’t cause too much trouble for our time trialling elite. A few twists and turns here and there will keep them on their toes, but the biggest challenge will be reserved for the Australian selectors.
Durbridge’s predigree is well known in the ‘race of truth’, but the two-time national time trial champion faces some strong competition from teammates Michael Hepburn (the current national champion) and Rohan Dennis (runner-up 2013).
All three could win, but only two can race. Durbridge and Dennis competed at the Delhi games four years ago, finishing third and sixth respectively, and I would be tempted to go with them again. Dennis was flying at this year’s nationals until blown from his bike by a ‘willy willy’, while Durbridge is a powerhouse when on song.
That takes nothing away from Hepburn, who would be equally as deserving of a place, but three doesn’t go into two and a tough decision will have to be made.
All three riders could potentially ride in the Tour de France, which finishes just four days before the time trial, so it may come down to who has the best condition.
Either way, it promises to be a fascinating event.
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