Jay Vine puts ambitious plan into effect with flying time trial in Australia, Lidl-Trek youngster wins in women's event

Jay Vine and Felicity Wilson-Haffenden crowned themselves Australian time trial champions on Thursday. The UAE Emirates-XRG hard rider was by far the fastest among the men, while the newly 20-year-old Lidl-Trek rider surprised against established names such as Brodie Chapman and Georgia Baker.

The Australian cycling championships are invariably held in January, shortly before the road season kicks off with the Tour Down Under. Vine was on hand in his homeland, hoping to recapture the time trial title. He already won that once in 2023, but in 2024 and 2025 Luke Plapp was the strongest in the race against the clock.

With 31 seconds ahead of number two Oliver Bleddyn and even 40 seconds ahead of number three Kelland O'Brien, it was pretty clear that Vine had the best legs. Good for him, as recently at Cyclingnews he had ordered these legs. "That's probably the only thing that I'd like to have changed from last year – having a better Australian season."

The time trial is also part of Vine's ambitious plan this year, he said. "If you're trying to win, that's pretty much almost impossible, if it's a super hard time trial, Evenepoel is the best in the world, and then if it's a dead flat time trial, Evenepoel is best in the world, closely followed by Ganna and Tarling. They have got 15, 20 kg on me. So for me it's about staying where I am, improving with equipment, improving with position, and that's basically all I can do."

At least in Australia, he was not bothered by Evenepoel, Ganna and Tarling, and Plapp did not compete either. Still, Vine also wants to compete with the world's best in time trial in 2026. He already finished second at the World Championships for a reason. "Time trialling is important to me. I lost to Ganna by one second in the Vuelta."