Harrison Carter's a road warrior

BATHURST cycling talent Harrison Carter is about to embark on one of the biggest years in his young career thus far as a member of the St George Australian UCI Continental squad and it begins with a fitting challenge.

Today Carter will put his legs to the test in the under 23 men’s road race at the Cycling Australia Road National Championships.

He and two of his St George team-mates – Harry Wiles and Pat Sharpe – face 132.6 kilometres of racing in Ballarat. That distance will be covered by doing 13 laps of a 10.2km course which features a climb up Mount Buninyong.

“Most of our team is elite now, but there will be a few of us there in pink for the under 23s, so we’ll be easy to spot. It’s not heaps like a team race, but it is always good to have your guys around in case something happens and you need to rely on somebody else,” Carter said.

“It’s always a good test to see how you are going and because it is so demanding, it is the kind of race where you can break your own personal power records and heart rate records.

“Coaches always encourage their riders to do it because it is such a demanding race and you can get out there and see what you can do. You can have personal goals and work towards those.”

In the lead up to the road nationals most of Carter’s racing has been on the track, placing fourth in the inaugural Central West Derny Challenge and picking a string of strong results at the Sydney Christmas Carnival in late December.

While Carter said he has ambitions to do well at track events this year, he is still hoping for a strong showing in the road race.

He knows he will be tested by both the course and some quality opposition, but will be helped by his prior experience. Carter’s goal is to better his 2015 performance.

“I went last year for the first time and it was very full on, so I am looking forward to going back down. I am focusing a little more on track this year, but I am still hoping to get a good result,” he said.

“I think it’s 13 laps again of the Ballarat course around Mount Buninyong, it is a pretty demanding course.

“It definitely helps to know what you are up against. It is a kind of a course that if you only rode it once you wouldn’t notice the hill too much, but after 13 times it is really hard. It certainly always comes out that the rider is one of the best in the country and that is the way the Australian championships should be.

“Last year I lasted 11 of 13 laps with the front bunch, so I guess I am hoping for a better result than that. I want to go down, improve on my personal goals, see what numbers I can crunch out, how much power I can push out and all that sort of stuff – I am not going there to tell everyone I can win.

“There’s guys that are pushing the professionals that could definitely get a good result if they were riding in the elite race.”

The race, which will includes another Bathurst rider in Paddy Corcoran, will get underway at 1pm today.