Noted as a hill climber, Ben Dyball used these skills to perfection on the last climb to break free, and go onto win the mens' under 23 title.(Image credit: Shane Goss/licoricegallery.com)
Mens' Under 23 podium (l-r): Nathan Haas (2nd,ACT), Ben Dyball (1st,NSW), and Joseph Lewis (3rd,NSW).(Image credit: Shane Goss/licoricegallery.com)
Eventual winner Ben Dyball from New South Wales corners on the back of the course still chasing solo leader Geoff Straub up ahead.(Image credit: Shane Goss/licoricegallery.com)
Ben Dyball's victory in the Australian U23 road race championships is a major coup for the 21-year-old. A promising climber, the quiet young man is still trying to come to terms with his sensational victory.
"I still can't believe that I won, this is my biggest win ever," Dyball said. "This was my ultimate goal over the last three months. I have done a lot of work in the gym building my strength as well as performing shorter, high intensity efforts on the bike."
Dyball opted to leave Virgin Blue-RBS Morgans to ride for Italian amateur team Bibanese in 2011, thanks to the help of Dominic Caravello, and he is looking forward to the challenge, particularly now that he has the green and gold jersey.
Last season, Dyball was successful in claiming some big scalps, most notably the overall win in the Tour of Canberra. His win was set up on stage one where he burst out of the peloton and put nearly a minute into his rivals on a final climb over 10km, averaging 6% and peaking at 14%. That set him up to finish third in the Australian National Road Series. It was a hard tour for Dyball with his coach, Michael Chapman passing away before the Tour.
Dyball then went over to Switzerland and he didn't disappoint, claiming two victories in that two month European stint. His first was Rundstreckenrennen Oberehrendingen, a one-day race. He then enjoyed success in Giubiasco - Carena, a 12km race, uphill with an average gradient of 7-8%.
On his return to Australia, he won two more races; the Stratford - Dargo and stage 3 in the Tour of Bright.
Dyball first got introduced into cycling when he was 10 years of age and has never looked back.
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"My dad started riding mountain bikes with my uncles for fun, then I started riding. When I was 12, I started racing and have never looked back," Dyball said.
Dyball will head to Europe in late March to start with his new Italian team and will be racing predominantly in Italy. He also has the Tour de l'Avenir in mind as a race that he wants to ride, and he is hopeful of being selected to the national team for the race.
"Hopefully this win will give me some starts on the national team for bigger tours such as l'Avenir as my major goal is to turn professional because I love big tours."
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