Cycling news - Luke Durbridge points to rivalry with Rohan Dennis as motivation after Time Trial win
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Updated 09/01/2020 at 13:33 GMT
Luke Durbridge says beating time trial world champion Rohan Dennis was his main motivation during his victory in the Australian National Time Trial Championships on Wednesday.
Team Mitchelton rider Australia's Luke Durbridge (L) and Great Britain's Simon Yates prepare to take the start of stage twelve of the 102nd Giro d'Italia - Tour of Italy - cycle race, 158kms from Cuneo to Pinerolo on May 23, 2019.
Image credit: Getty Images
Riding for Mitchelton-Scott, Durbridge beat the time trial world champion Dennis by 18 seconds to land a fourth career title in Victoria.
The 28-year-old said: “It’s always a big benchmark when the world champion rocks up for the national titles and it makes me lift my level.
“A lot of work goes into this in December, a lot of support from back home, family, my wife Lara, coach Ben and the team.
"We all put a lot of effort in to train hard in the off-season but this is why you do it."
Durbridge was victorious on the 37.5km course after he clocked an average speed of 48.596km/h to claim first place ahead of Dennis, who won the national event in 2016, 2017 and 2018.
It was Durbridge's second consecutive win in the event having also beaten Dennis to the title in 2019 by a 22-second margin.
Durbridge said: “To win the national title is really special to me and I think that going into the Olympics this year that it’s a really good indicator that maybe there’s two spots up for grabs, and that both Rohan and I can take them which would be fantastic.”
He now has four Australian ITT titles to his name, having won his first back in 2012.
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