Few Australian racers have been as successful in the past five years as newly crowned National Time Trial Champion Jay Vine – and that’s despite some massive setbacks along the way. What’s more, arguably even fewer have had such an unorthodox pathway into the highest levels of the sport as Vine did.
The story of Vine turning pro at Alpecin in 2021 as a reward for standout success at the Zwift Academy e-racing, rather than on real roads, has been recounted many times now.
What’s more, that economic challenge, as Vine sees it, is only one of the major obstacles compared to some years ago. In an era when riders like teammate Tadej Pogačar are winning the Tour de France aged 21, or Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek) makes it onto the podium of the Vuelta a España aged 20, the trend of searching for ever-younger racers seems unstoppable. That trend is not benefiting Australian cycling at all, he says.
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