The ARA Australian Cycling Team have won gold in the team time trial mixed relay at the 2024 UCI Road World Championships, giving Grace Brown her second rainbow jersey in Zurich.

It was a nail-biting finish for the Australian squad, who won the title just 85-hundredths of a second ahead of Germany and eight seconds ahead of Italy.

The 53.7km race saw many teams split apart on the hilly and technical terrain. Australia was the fourth-to-last team in the starting order.

The men’s trio of Jay Vine, Ben O’Connor and Michael Matthews lay down the gauntlet, setting the fastest first lap and handing the women a 7.5-second advantage over Italy.

Early into the second lap, Ruby Roseman-Gannon lost contact on the main climb, unable to follow the pace being set by the new individual time trial world champion, Grace Brown. Nevertheless, Brown and Brodie Chapman decided to press on, fighting for every scrap of time.

They dug deep into their energy reserves, sprinting all the way to the line to best Germany’s then-best time by less than a second.

Brown and Chapman on the charge. (Tim de Waele/Getty Images)

The Aussies then endured a nervous wait as the Italians, the French and finally the home Swiss team failed to eclipse their time, handing Australia their first world title in the discipline.                                                       

“I didn’t prepare for a time trial, I think I’ve only ridden my TT bike two or three times since the Tour de France, so it hurt,” Matthews said. 

“I’ve won this event when it was a trade team race, but we didn’t get a rainbow jersey. To get a rainbow jersey with my national teammates is massive for us. 

“We did really well in the men’s ride and then women brought it home. It couldn’t have gone much better.”

It was a sweet moment Vine, who bounced back in the best possible way after crashing out of a potential podium finish in Sunday’s individual time trial.

“It looked worse than it was. It was of the uphill corners I took way too fast compared to the recon. It gave me even more motivation to give back to the guys in this race,” Vine said.

“Any gold medal at the World Championships is incredible. This rainbow jersey will be framed and put in my pool room.”

The fairytale farewell continues for Brown who will now retire at the end of the season as a dual world champion and the Olympic champion.

Ruby, Grace and Brodie in rainbows. (Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)

“I’m feeling a bit greedy, I need a few more rainbow jerseys in my closet,” Brown said, jokingly. “But this one’s really got a nice vibe, to do it with the whole Aussie crew. It’s really exciting.”

The Victorian said she felt motivated by the fast time set by the men.

“It made me excited to head off and know that we weren’t fighting back from a deficit. We went too hard on the climb and put Ruby into the red, but we knew we had to cut our losses and go down to two riders.

“We went all-in for the last kilometre to get that extra second. We ended empty but it was enough to win.”

Brown and Australia will have another opportunity to extend the fairytale in the elite women’s road race on Saturday.

2024 UCI Road World Championships – Mixed Relay Team Time Trial

1. Australia (Michael Matthews, Ben O’Connor, Jay Vine, Brodie Chapman, Grace Brown, Ruby Roseman-Gannon) 1:12:52.28
2. Germany +0.85
3. Italy +8.25
4. France +23.83
5. Denmark +2:06.52

Feature photo: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images