A man who won gold at the Rio Olympics - though not in cycling - has ridden the New Zealand TT championships and made the podium; Hamish Bond is best known for his rowing exploits but can clearly move very quickly indeed on a bike too.
By Brian Canty
A two-time Olympian who won rowing gold at the Rio and London Games in the coxless pairs took home a bronze medal at the New Zealand national time-trial championships yesterday.
And in the Australian road race championships today, a rider completely new to WorldTour level - Miles Scotson - took the title.
And another young gun, Brendan Canty of Drapac-Cannondale, had a day to forget when he celebrated 'victory' a lap too early.
It all added up to a memorable and unusual first national road championships weekend of 2017.
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Back to the New Zealand TT champs; Hamish Bond, from Dunedin, had never completed a 40-kilometre test against the clock prior to the contest in Napier which was won by Quick-Step Floors man Jack Bauer.
Silver went to Jason Christie of the Kenyan Riders Down Under Continental team while 1:12 behind established WorldTour man Bauer was the newbie Bond.
“Completed my first 40km TT yesterday finishing 3rd at the NZ Champs. Pleased with the result and learnt a lot. I'm on a pretty steep learning curve,” he said on his own personal Instagram account.
Bond, 30, has an impressive rowing CV behind him and he shot to fame 10 years ago as a teenager when he won gold in the world championships, in the coxless pairs, in Munich.
And since then he’s been pretty much unbeatable in the boat, with the help of crewmate Eric Murray.
In fact, with the exception of 2016, Bond has won gold at the world championships every year since that maiden victory in 2007.
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He has raced the bike before and in 2009 he competed in the Tour of Southland, his country’s only UCI-ranked race.
And that was his comeback race in November when he finished a very modest 68th overall.
Canty celebrates too early in Australia
Meanwhile, across the pond in Australia over the weekend there was drama at the national road race championships when one of the sport’s brightest young stars did something he will never forget for the rest of his life.
Brendan Canty, the best young rider at the Tour of Oman last year, thought he’d won the biggest event of his career but unfortunately, he was a little premature in his celebration.
The Cannondale-Drapac man was off the front of the race which featured a slew of the sport’s biggest names.
Canty, thinking he’d done enough to secure the win, came across the line in Buninyong having punched the air as he approached the finish area, only to be told he had a lap to go.
He only had a handful of seconds on the chasers when he crossed the line and when the pace ramped up behind he knew he’d gone too deep too soon.
Still, he gathered himself and stayed with the leaders and even managed to contest the actual finish, though he had no answer to a flying Miles Scotson who stole away inside 2k to go and held on for victory.
Canty was seventh in the same time as Scotson. And the 22-year-old new Australian champion was riding his first major pro race for BMC Racing.
Last year he rode for US Continental level outfit Team Illuminate, before making the jump into the WorldTour ranks with BMC for this season and now starting his pro tenure with a spectacular bang.
Scotson, of course, has a massive engine and in October finished third in the world U23 time-trial championships.
Australian road race champs highlights
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