TORQUAY’S Otis Jones has returned home with invaluable experience after impressing at the National Road Championships in Perth.<\/p>\n
The 18-year-old raced in the Under-23 Individual Time Trial and Road Race events and held his own as a bottom-ager.<\/p>\n
The Time Trial event consisted of a 29.3km loop, with Jones finishing 18th, whilst the Road Race was a scenic 135km trail through Kings Park and the Perth CBD in which he finished 20th of 89 riders.<\/p>\n
Jones said that his trip to Perth was great experience and opportunity to test his ability against the best young cyclers in the country.<\/p>\n
“It’s pretty special to have that one race a year that meets in Perth and all the best riders in the country come and battle each other for the National title.<\/p>\n
“The competition is very tough and it gets harder and faster every year as riders develop and battle for spots on development teams.”<\/p>\n
In his first year as an under-23 rider, Jones took plenty out of the weekend that will put him in good stead as he progresses in his career.<\/p>\n
“Personally, as a rider I leant that I have the strength and what it takes to compete with the best.<\/p>\n
“The lead in I had for the race wasn’t what I was hoping for, but I still showed up and could give it a crack.<\/p>\n
“The moment that stood out to me the most was up the climb (in the Road Race) where I thought the heat would get to me and I was going to cramp and potentially get overtaken, but I felt very strong up the climbs and was able to overtake riders every lap.”<\/p>\n
This year looms as a big one for Jones as he takes plenty of momentum from a strong start in Perth.<\/p>\n
“I’m heading to Italy at the end of March to race the European season for Zappi Racing team, a development team based in the heart of Italy,” he said.<\/p>\n
“Racing a top-tier National event in Australia was a real confident booster and helped me set some big goals for overseas.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
TORQUAY’S Otis Jones has returned home with invaluable experience after impressing at the National Road Championships in Perth. The 18-year-old raced in the Under-23 Individual Time Trial and Road Race events and held his own as a bottom-ager. The Time Trial event consisted of a 29.3km loop, with Jones finishing 18th, whilst the Road Race […]<\/p>\n