Wil Holmes (Hagens Berman Jayco) has won a thrilling U23 Men Time Trial by less than one second to launch the 2026 Westbridge Funds Road National Championships in stunning fashion.
Over the 29-kilometre course around Bold Park in Perth, Western Australia, the 19-year-old from Adelaide took first place in a time of 36:38.58, beating Julian Baudry (Team Brennan) by just 0.9 seconds.
Lucas Stevenson (Team Brennan) rounded out the podium 33 seconds behind.
Less than 1 second separated gold and silver. (Chris Auld)
“It means a lot, I don’t think it has fully sunk in,” Holmes said. “It has been a few years since I won a national title, this is my first U23 national title.
“Last year I felt the lows of not being on the podium, I know exactly how much hard work goes into this. My family and friends and coaches and team have really backed me, it means everything to win this today.
“The aim was to go hard up the climbs and recover everywhere else. The climbs you can make a lot of difference, I backed myself on the climbs and hoped I could back it up on each lap.
“I got the time checks in my ear that I was down by five seconds in the first lap and the second lap I brought it back a little bit. I was down on the last lap, I just backed myself on the last climb over the last 3km of the race.
Today's win was Holmes' first national title at U23 level. (Chris Auld)
“Congrats to Julian, it was super close and this is what makes racing so exciting.”
Holmes will have a couple of days recovery before attacking the U23 Men's Road Race on Saturday.
“I had a big year last year, I feel like I have stepped up a level,” he said.
“Hopefully I can make the right decisions and moves on Saturday and get another good result.”
- William HOLMES (Hagens Berman Jayco) 36:38.58
- Julian BAUDRY (Team Brennan) +0.9
- Lucas STEVENSON (Team Brennan) +33.0
- Max GOOLD (NSN Development Team) +46.0
- Vinnie MANION (Launceston City) +1:13.1
Feature image: Zac Williams