Riding had literally become a pain in the butt for Cameron Meyer, but after an operation to remove a saddle sore he bounced back to form with victory in the Oceania championships road race in Canberra on Sunday.
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The gruelling 152-kilometre course at Namadgi National Park again claimed plenty of victims, with only 24 of the 100 starters for the men's elite and under-23 race crossing the finishing line.
Meyer, a West Australian who rides for Australia's professional team GreenEDGE, was part of a breakaway group that got clear between the 20km and 30km marks from the start, which finally ended up with just Meyer and South Australian Damien Howson.
Meyer prevailed in three hours, 50.39 seconds - two seconds in front of Howson, who won the under-23 title. Jack Anderson was third overall, but because Howson was under-23 he got silver in the elite men's. Neil van der Ploegwon bronze.
Canberra's Adam Phelan finished second in the under-23s to go with his third in the under-23 time trial on Thursday.
Meyer said his performance was a ''solid hit-out'' as he strives to return to form after surgery in January.
''It was a good confidence booster going into the European season, just coming back from injury. It was great to come over here and get a solid race in and it was a good field out there,'' he said.
''It was a strong breakaway and I'm happy to get the win.''
Meyer will train in Perth for a couple of weeks before going abroad. His next race is next month's Tour of Turkey and hopefully the Tour of California after that.
While most observers were saying how tough the Oceania course was, Meyer simply said it was solid - probably unsurprising, considering his resume.
A multiple world champion in track cycling, Meyer also has excellent pedigree on the road. He won the national individual time trial title in 2011; he was second in the same event last year and he is the reigning national criterium champion. He also won the 2011 Tour Down Under.
''[The course] was very solid,'' he said. ''I think we ended up with somewhere between 2500 and 3000 metres of climbing in 150 kilometres. That's quite a lot.
''So it was definitely taxing and tolling out there and at the end of the bike race you definitely got the true guys at the front of the race and on the podium.''
The 25-year-old was unsure whether he will be part of the GreenEDGE team that will tackle this year's Tour de France.
He has competed in two Giro d'Italias and one Vuelta a Espana, but is yet to compete in the world's biggest race. ''We won't know [whether I'm riding in the Tour] until really close to the event,'' Meyer said.
''I'm just focusing on my next tours coming back from injury and if I show some good results through May and June there could be a possibility, but I'll focus on those tours first.''
SUNDAY: Under-19 men's road race (113km): 1. Ryan Cavanagh (Qld) 3:03.10; 2. Jai Hindley (WA) 3:03.30; 3. Robert Power (WA) 3:03.30. Under-23 men's road race (153km): 1. Damien Howson (SA) 3:50.41; 2. Adam Phelan (ACT) 3:53.35; 3. Jack Haig (Vic) 3:57.45. Elite men's road race (153km): 1. Cameron Meyer (WA) 3:50.39; 2. Jack Anderson (Qld) 3:52.12; 3. Neil Van Der Ploeg (Vic) 3:52.27.
