There was a start ramp at the bottom of the climb to Norton Summit. After rolling away, it was all uphill: a 5.6km stretch of road to a destination that’s part of the cycling vernacular in Adelaide.
Rhys Gillett was the last to start a time trial on the Monday before the Tour Down Under. After an effort that lasted 11 minutes and 17 seconds, he took the $1,000 winner’s cheque and a bit of satisfaction from a brief bout of racing.
He explained to RIDE afterwards that he would have preferred to have been racing the Tour Down Under, as part of the UniSA team, but he missed out on selection for the conglomerate team that wears the Australian national colours in the opening round of the WorldTour.
Click the link below to listen to the interview with Rhys after his fast ride up to Norton Summit…
“The Tour Down Under (organisers) putting on this TT where [riders] can come an enjoy a closed road, I think it’s really good. It gives something for the spectators to do when they’re not watching the race…
“I think it was pretty good fun.
“It also gives the people who were maybe having a shot of getting a ride with the UniSA team – but didn’t [make the selection] – a chance to race during the week; that was my aim so this [win] is a good consolation prize.”
“I think I averaged 90rpm which is quite low for me. The nationals was 99 for that hour TT.
“I think my power was around 410-415 [for the 11:17 climb up Norton Summit.”
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