South Australia remain confident they can break four minutes for the team pursuit despite Rohan Dennis’ fatigue on day one of the national track cycling championships.
An unprecedented sub-four minute ride at the nationals would be another big tick for Glenn O’Shea in particular as he makes an impressive push to break into the first-choice Australian team pursuit quartet in an Olympic year.
Dennis showed the effects of his superb road race form this month as Queenslander Michael Hepburn beat him in their final on Thursday night at Adelaide’s Superdrome to win his first senior national 4000m individual pursuit title.
Dennis and fellow SA rider Jack Bobridge are part of the reigning world championship quartet in the team pursuit, but Bobridge also hurt his hand in a crash earlier this month at the national titles and his track form is unclear.
Nevertheless, SA coach Tim Decker is still upbeat about Dennis, Bobridge, O’Shea and first-year senior Alex Edmondson breaking four minutes.
The current Australian championship record is SA’s four minutes 0.417 seconds, set two years ago.
“It’s my aim and I’ve put it to them, but it’s their aim as well,” Decker said.
“It’s a tough year coming into Olympics and you’re going to need to be able to ride under four minutes.”
O’Shea has recovered from illness to show outstanding international form but he is yet to be part of an Australian line-up that has gone under four minutes.
“He (O’Shea) wants to be able to show that he’s capable of doing good work in a sub-four minute ride – that’s the plan,” Decker said.
Hepburn, the fastest qualifier, held his nerve when Dennis led by nearly a second midway through their final.
He finished far better and won in four minutes 17.481 seconds, well ahead of Dennis’ 4:20.004.
The individual pursuit is controversially no longer on the Olympic program but Hepburn and Dennis want selection for the April world championships in Melbourne.
Queenslander Mitchell Mulhearn beat Edmondson for the bronze medal.
Dennis was clearly tired after coming off two under-23 national road titles and a fifth placing overall at the Tour Down Under.
“I wouldn’t take the win away from him just because I did the Tour Down Under … he was always going to be a hard competitor,” Dennis said.
Also on Thursday, NSW rider Kaarle McCulloch won her third-straight 500m time trial championship.
That win came a few hours after her Australian team-mate Anna Meares had the better of her in the team sprint.
Meares and McCulloch are three-time team sprint world champions.
Meares and first-time senior Rikki Belder, riding for SA, beat the NSW combination of McCulloch and Cassandra Kell.
Victorian Alexander Morgan and WA’s Kelsey Morgan won the under-19 individual pursuit titles.
SA’s James Glasspool made a great start to the championships, winning the 1km time trial and then combining with Matthew Glaetzer and Nathan Corrigan to win the team sprint.
SA qualified fastest and beat NSW in the final, with Victoria beating WA for the bronze medal.
The ACT, who feature Olympic hopefuls Dan Ellis and Alex Bird, were disqualified after qualifying third-fastest.
Race commissaires ruled the change from the first to the second rider was made outside the designated area on the track.
The ACT unsuccessfully appealed against the disqualification.
Queensland’s junior world champion Taylah Jennings won the women’s under-19 scratch race after losing the pursuit final to Robson.