Cycling: Patrick Bevin claims time trial title at national championships

Patrick Bevin is the New Zealand time trial champion. Photo / Getty

Patrick Bevin goes into the 2019 cycling season with an excellent chance at winning a World Tour time trial stage.

If he manages to pull off such a feat, it will be done with the silver fern across his chest, after winning the national time trial championship this afternoon.

Bevin claimed victory by 1m 51s on the 40.4km course in Napier, crossing the line in a superb time of 50m 45s to claim his second time trial title.

He was aided by bad luck striking defending champion Hamish Bond. Bond was ahead after the first time check, and trailed Bevin by just one second after the opening lap, but lost 95s in the third section because of mechanical issues.

It meant he finished well behind in second place, with Hayden McCormick third. But it would have been tough to topple Bevin, who claimed an ideal start to a season which promises plenty.

"Really stoked to kick it off right — I said I wanted to come here and take the jersey back," said Bevin.

"It's a hard one to really target — the first day of the year — but for me, as I've progressed through the last couple seasons, the time trial has become a real focus, and to carry the silver fern in Europe is going to be a huge honour and a source of pride."

Bevin said the course was tough, as he tried to pace himself to victory.

"It was the first time I've raced since October, so it's hard to know exactly where you are. You don't want to go out and leave yourself with too much to do.

"I was very conscious about pacing it right and making sure I came home at least as strong on my splits. I was quicker on the second lap, which was good to be strong throughout the 40km."

Bevin is now one of the keys for his newly-formed CCC team, which has arisen from the ashes of the folded BMC squad.

He's likely to be selected to race at the Tour de France, and will be one of their top hopes to claim a stage victory at a major event in 2019.

Bevin came close last year, finishing second in time trials at the Tour of the Basque Country and Tour of California.

He also is a threat in sprints and slight uphill finishes, claiming six top six finishes on his way to fourth overall at the Tour of Britain.

While he's not a contender against the world's best sprinters — Jakub Mareczko is CCC's man for those — Bevin is New Zealand's best chance to end a nearly eight-year wait for an individual World Tour stage win.

He'll get to chase that goal in the national champion's jersey. Bevin won the time trial title in 2016 but wasn't focused on the format at the time. Now, though, he has big plans.

The 27-year-old finished eighth in the time trial at the world championships last year, New Zealand's best ever result, and has his eyes on a podium finish at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics — a tough but not impossible goal.

"I had a really good worlds in Austria, it was a real step up for me, and it's all about keeping that progression going," said Bevin.

"Time trialling is super disciplined and rewards that singular focus, and I've got the opportunity where I am now to have some of that focus and I'm going to do my very best to do everything with it I can."

This year, Bevin will target week-long stage races — riding Tirreno-Adriatico, Tour of the Basque Country, Tour de Romandie and the Tour de Suisse — before a crack at the Tour de France.

It's a stellar slate of racing ahead, in a year that looks extremely exciting indeed for Patrick Bevin.