Jay Vine starts cycling season with Australian time trial title

The first WorldTour race of 2026 (the Tour Down Under) is still about two weeks away, but the road season has officially started. Today, Australia's best time trial specialists competed for the national time trial titles. In the elite men’s category, Jay Vine took the victory, while Felicity Wilson-Haffenden won the women’s title.

This year, Perth has the honor of hosting the Australian Championships (time trials and road races). On Thursday, the country's top time trialists went head-to-head on a 39.1-kilometer course in and around the capital of Western Australia.

The riders faced a predominantly flat time trial route, although there was a recurring short climb along the way (400 meters at 4%). The designed course perfectly suited Jay Vine’s strengths.

The 30-year-old UAE Emirates XRG rider was the only competitor to average over fifty kilometers per hour (50.057 km/h). At the finish, the gap to second and third place—Oliver Bleddyn and Kelland O'Brien—was 31 and 40 seconds, respectively. This marks Vine's second professional time trial title after his first win against the clock in 2023.

Before the start, a duel between Vine and Luke Plapp was anticipated, but the defending champion disappointed and did not feature in the final results. The Jayco AlUla rider recorded only the eighth-best time, nearly three minutes behind winner Vine.

No back-to-back for Brodie Chapman
In the elite women’s race, most eyes were on last year’s winner, Brodie Chapman, but the strong rider from UAE Team ADQ had to acknowledge Felicity Wilson-Haffenden in Perth. The margin between the two was minimal: the Lidl-Trek rider crossed the line just three seconds faster than defending champion Chapman. Josie Talbot (Liv AlUla Jayco) claimed bronze.

In the other categories, the titles went to Sophia Sammons (U23 women), Wil Holmes (U23 men), Neve Parslow (junior women), and Connor Wright (junior men).