Brendan Canty had ridden brilliantly in the Australian Championships road race, helping catch the breakaway group and then launching a solo charge inside the last 20 kilometres.
Canty tore down the Buninyong finishing straight with one lap left in the 18-lap, 183.6km race. Then he smiled at the motorbike camera and started pumping his fist. He thought he had won until officials rang the bell to signal it was one lap left. Canty went on to finish seventh.
“It’s a long, hot day, but with a couple of laps to go you get a bit excited and things get out of hand a bit,” Canty said.
“The feeling of thinking you might stay away is super-exciting. Then ‘you have another lap to go’ – the high and low of that, I can’t really articulate that right now.
“It’s going to be a little bit disappointing for me. There’s nothing to be ashamed of and I’m really proud of the way I rode today.”
Canty, who has joined the WorldTour this year with Cannondale-Drapac, joins a long list of riders who have mistimed their laps.
You can watch the video here.
Well I gave the Road Race a big crack today. Made some mistakes out there, but I’ll learn from it. Thanks for the epic support!!!
— Brendan Canty (@baacanty) 8 ianuarie 2017
