Durbridge left disappointed after off day in ITT

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There was disappointment for Australia’s Luke Durbridge and Cameron Meyer in the elite men’s individual time trial on Wednesday with the pair finishing 21st and 16th respectively.

Germany’s Tony Martin successfully defended his 2011 title in a time of 0:58:38.80.

Durbridge and Meyer were both competing at the elite level in the event for the first time, with Durbridge gold medallist last year in the under 23 category having finished with a silver medal in 2010. He had also won the junior men’s title in 2009. The 21-year-old however, was on a bad day from the outset. Durbridge’s radio stopped working, but he said afterwards that he doubts it made much of a difference.

"I didn't really know what corners to take fast and not to take fast, but it doesn't really matter," he said. "You just try and stay calm and push towards the line but once you're at 15 to 20 kilometres in and you see '30 to go' and you've got nothing left it's not really a good feeling.

"It's been a while since I've gone out there and not been going in a time trial," Durbridge explained having had four individual time trial wins to his name this season - although none as long as Wednesday’s 45.7km effort. "[I'm] disappointed and obviously it's not the way you want to finish. I was expecting a lot more of myself [but] that's the way it is. I'll reassess, keep working hard and come back next year."

Leaving the start house earlier in wet conditions, Meyer admitted this was an additional challenge to an already tough course.

"You didn't see any 49 - 50 kilometre averages, the winners like Tony Martin were only in the 46's and a lot of us down in the 44 kilometre an hour averages which is quite slow for an elite time trial," he said. "So definitely demanding out there, windy, hilly and then the rain made it a little bit slower with the corners so definitely a tough ride."

Having decided to dedicate himself to the road following the track world championships in April, Meyer was satisfied, saying that overall it had been a confidence-boosting year.

"I've gone for GC in a couple of tours Torino and California, learning how to do that and I've had some Classics like San Sebastian where I was in the final helping Simon Gerrans," he explained. So I'm happy with 2012 and I take a lot out of it going into 2013 and hopefully I can continue to step up in the levels.

"Sixteenth place not too far outside the top 10 and it was a good learning experience doing a one hour time trial," said Meyer. "Hopefully a few more in the future."