Caleb Ewan was overlooked for the world championships in his backyard after Australian coaches decided not to support the sprinter on the Wollongong hill course.
Ewan beat the governing body on Friday when, after winning the hilly opening leg of the Deutschland Tour, he announced on social media that he would not compete in the Road World Championships in September.
It was his first win since April and came after shoulder surgery barred him from the Commonwealth Games.
“To be honest, I don’t have much to say about it, except that I am heartbroken, that I will not be here to represent my country and that I believe I deserved to be there. Sob story over ‘, wrote the Sydney favorite. before the team was officially announced a few hours later.
Former time trial world champion and recent Commonwealth Games gold medalist Rohan Dennis is the other high-profile omission for family reasons.
Giro d’Italia winner Jai Hindley and Grand Tour artists Michael Matthews, Ben O’Connor and Simon Clarke will lead the men’s elite team in their absence.
Luke Plapp, runner-up in last year’s Under 23 time trial, will replace Rohan, while Luke Durbridge, Heinrich Haussler and Nick Schultz will complete the squad.
On Friday, AusCycling’s elite road boss, Rory Sutherland, confirmed to reporters that Dennis had resigned due to a family obligation and that “there is nothing wrong with that, nothing serious”.
“Everyone was disappointed, but … family comes first,” he said.
“There’s nothing going wrong between Australian cycling and Rohan.”
The same cannot be said of Ewan, a disheartened five-time Tour de France stage winner, who had circled the date on his calendar in hopes of winning a world championship within hours of his childhood home.
But, despite Ewan’s irony proving in Germany that he isn’t a one-trick pony, Sutherland said the 4,000m elevation gain on the 266.9km course forced them to look elsewhere.
“It’s complicated. I know Caleb is from the area (and when Wollongong was announced as a guest) we initially thought… (it would be) a very good race for sprinters, ”he said.
“But it’s a very challenging journey, the more people we send to Australia to drive and supervise it and our staff… (we found out) it’s tough.
“It opens up to all types of athletes. We have to make a decision based on the course itself.
“It was a fun and interesting process to get to this point.”
Commonwealth gold medalists Georgia Baker and Grace Brown will be joined by Birmingham teammates Sarah Roy, Alexandra Manly and Brodie Chapman.
Amanda Spratt will return for her 10th appearance at the world championships, chasing a third medal, while Wollongong local Josie Talbot will make her debut.
Baker and Brown will likely compete in the time trial while the mixed team will be finalized closer to the event, which kicks off on 18 September.