PARA | Darren does the double with road world title

Photo - Casey Gibson

The sun shone on Team Australia on the opening day of the 2019 UCI Para Road World Championships in the Netherlands with five world titles and two bronze medals won in the time trial. 

The Australian national anthem was on repeat in Emmen as Darren Hicks (C2), Emily Petricola (C4), Paige Greco (C3) Alistair Donohoe (C5) and David Nicholas (C3) took to the podium to celebrate. 

Significantly, the victories also secured dual 2019 track and road world crowns for the quintet after each soared to gold at the 2019 Track World Championships in March, also held in the Netherlands. 

In other day one time trial results, Kaitlyn Schurmann (C1) and Meg Lemon (C4) also celebrated on the podium with bronze in their respective events. 

Day 1 Medal Tally - Time Trial 

🏳️‍🌈 Darren Hicks 
🏳️‍🌈 Emily Petricola 
🏳️‍🌈 Paige Greco 
🏳️‍🌈 Alistair Donohoe 
🏳️‍🌈 David Nicholas 
🥉 Meg Lemon 
🥉 Kaitlyn Schurmann

🏳️‍🌈 Darren Hicks 

Darren Hicks celebrated his second world title of 2019 after soaring to victory in the C2 time trial on the opening day of the 2019 UCI Para Road World Championships in the Netherlands. 

“The Road Time Trial has been the title I've been chasing for three years. My classification is always one of the biggest and closest, so to finally get the win, and do it by 22 seconds, is just unreal!”

Hicks scorched the course in a time of 28mins 24.55 seconds to take the win in a strong 25-rider field by 22 seconds over Belgium’s Ewoud Vromant. 

“We knew it would all come down to hitting my projected power and speed numbers which were daunting since they were both higher than I'd ever ridden before! That's what I love about racing though, pushing yourself farther than you ever felt you could, and in my opinion, that's what it should take to win a World Championship!”

The win came after months of hard work on the road bike after winning his first track world title in the individual pursuit at the 2019 World Championships held in the Netherlands, in March. 

“Up until late last year I only ever saw myself as a championship contender on the road, the track was never really a target. But after making some changes to the way I rode my Pursuit we found nearly 11 seconds and I was suddenly a big chance!”

With one rainbow jersey in his suitcase and the road race to come on Saturday, Hicks is still looking for ways to improve as he chases Paralympic selection. 

“Everyone on this team is looking towards Tokyo, but the truth is there is so much racing to be done between now and then that a good performance now could still leave you short in a years time. So I'll take some time to process and enjoy this, then it's back home and straight back into building so that Paralympic dream can become a reality."

​Photo - Casey Gibson