One year ago Campbell Flakemore went into the U23 Worlds time trial as one of the major favourites but he missed out on a podium spot by just 12 seconds. With that disappointment to drive him forward, he conquered the title in the 2014 edition of the race when he beat Ryan Mullen by less than a second.

Australia has been dominating the U23 time trialing scene for several years. In 2009 Jack Bobridge became the first Australian to win the Worlds title and since then the country has been unstoppable. In 2011 Luke Durbridge took the title while Michael Hepburn finished third, in 2012 Rohan Dennis and Damien Howson both finished on the podium and last year Howson got the win while Campbell Flakemore finished fourth.

This year it was Flakemore’s time to carry the Australian flag in the event. For a long time, it seemed that he would be unable to follow in the footsteps of his predecessors as he was far behind at both time checks. However, he ended his race very strongly and stopped the clock in a time that was just 0.46 seconds faster than Ryan Mullen’s.

After last year’s near-miss, today’s race was the obvious goal for Flakemore who has been focused on the event all year. In the recent Tour de l’Avenir, he showed that he is ready for the challenge when he won the prologue, and one week ago he was the best U23 rider in the Chrono Champenois time trial. Today it all fell together when he conquered the coveted rainbow jersey.

“That [the fourth place] was a driving focus for the whole time trial today,” he said at the post-race press conference. “I was really disappointed with my result last year. I knew that on a good day I could have been around Damien but that wasn’t the case. This year it was the thing that was driving me.

“I am just super happy to win. I had my fourth place at the back of my mind all race. That was sort of driving me. I was really disappointed last year and really wanted to win this year. I am just really happy.”

Flakemore’s win came just hours after Macey Stewart won the gold in the junior women’s time trial in which another Australian Anna-Leeza Hull had finished third.

“It’s obviously a cool start for Australia,” Flakemore said. “We have always had strong time trialists, Jack Bobridge, Damien Howson, Luke Durbridge, Rohan Dennis, so there has always been a good history there. I am just happy to continue that. Obviously Macey won the junior gold this morning. She’s from Tasmania like I am. It’s pretty cool to have two gold medals for Tasmania in the first two races.”

For a long time, it seemed that Flakemore was too late and that 20-year-old Mullen would take the win. However, the slow start was part of a pre-race plan even though it was obviously a lot closer than he could have planned.

“I knew that I was down at the first time checks but I knew that last climb would be difficult at the end of 40 odd minutes,” he said. “I kept something in the tank for that. It seems like it made the difference. The last kilometres were just about emptying the tank. It was so close. It could have gone either way but for me it’s gone the right way. I am really happy with the result.”

The race was marked by heavy rain and all riders did their rides on very wet roads.

“It was slippery out there,” Flakemore said. “I took it quite easy in all the roundabouts and on the final descent I didn’t want to crash so close to the finish. I might have lost a bit of time in the corners and on the final descent but the conditions were the same for everyone. It didn’t just start to rain for the last couple of riders. In that respect it was fair.

“In general, I like to ride in the rain and the cold. It suits me better than the heat. Ideally, I would have preferred it dry today but the wet really didn’t worry me.”

Flakemore doesn’t only want to follow in the footsteps of his compatriots on the U23 scene. He also hopes to continue the tradition that has seen all the previous great time trialist turn professional on a WorldTour team.

“I like to follow in all their footsteps and have a professional career,” he said. “I know that it’s possible. I was teammate with Damien last year and he rode the team time trial for GreenEDGE. I know I am around the mark in the time trial aspect of the sport but I still have a long way to go on the road with my endurance. Hopefully, that can keep progressing over the next couple of years. I hope to be in the WorldTour in the future. “

“I haven’t got anything yet but hopefully my prologue win at l’Avenir and this win today can help me get a WorldTour team for next year.”

Flakemore still has one big ride to do before he will call it a season. On Friday, he will line up as part of a strong Australian team in the road race where his teammate Caleb Ewan is probably the biggest favourite.

“I will do the road race on Friday,” he said. “We have a really good team. After that, my season is done. I will go back to Australia and then it’s the National Championships in January. That’s next for me.”