Road Nats: Bathurst riders Emilie Miller and David Nicholas add road race victories to their time trial golds

The Bathurst couple completed the golden double with time trial and road race success, both producing excellent performances on the challenging Mount Buninyong course.

Miller completed a loop of the circuit in one hour, 30 minutes and 13 seconds (6.8km/h average) on her way to H1 gold.

Nicholas, just like in the time trial, found himself in a great battle for the C3 class victory with local rider Will Zammit.

He was able to come home just ahead in 1:30:40 (33.8km/h average) as he saw off his rival by just two seconds.

Claiming the two gold medals with a pair of clean and powerful performances was exactly what Miller was hoping for after she crashed out during last year's Road Nats time trial.

But even with that in the back of her mind and with a big helping of wet weather in Saturday's road race Miller showed some strong pace.

"The road race was the one I was really focusing on this year because it's the race which is the most consistent year-to-year. I was happy with how it all came together," she said.

"I had some time splits that I was chasing throughout the race and I was happy with where I was at the top of the hill. Descending in the rain was quite tricky because it was fairly wet at that point of the course.

"Handcycles generally go downhill fairly fast because they're quite aero and they're a bit heavier than a normal road bike so in the rain it can be quite dangerous. I was riding the brake a little on the way back down and probably didn't get as much free speed as I would have liked. That's all part of racing in different conditions and not taking unnecessary risks.

"I had a stack in the time trial last year so that's always in the back of your mind. That added to the level of caution I was taking."

Former Paralympic gold medallist Nicholas said it was a great thrill to win his pair of national titles while under serious pressure from a talented rival.

"It felt great that I could come away with the win in both events. It shows I'm in good form for the year ahead," he said.

"There were some nervous moments in the road race. Will Zammit was really strong and went for the sprint a long way out. He actually gapped me but I caught him with 200m to go and rode over the top of him to win."

With the future of the Tokyo Paralympics uncertain, Nicholas said he will naturally continue his training as if the event is full steam ahead.

"Hopefully Tokyo can go ahead in a COVID-safe way, and our team is working hard to ensure athlete safety is a priority," he said.

"In the meantime I'm just preparing as best I can for the year ahead."

Meanwhile, Lithgow native and former Bathurst Cycling Club rider Emily Watts became the Australian Under 23s road race champion on Sunday.

Watts was the first under 23s rider home and the fifth overall in the combined 23s/elite event, capping off a brilliant Road Nats campaign after she came second in the 23s time trial on Wednesday.

"I knew I had a shot," Watts said.

"I didn't know I'd have a good enough shot to win as Sarah Gigante and Neve (Bradbury).

"The last lap was a case of my legs hurt, they're behind me, just ride. One of the girls asked me how far the bunch was back and I said 'it doesn't matter we're going to this f**king line'."