Australia carves out solid performances in wet Tokyo Paralympics road races

In treacherous rain-drenched conditions, six of our Australian Paralympic team para-cyclists competed in their respective road races on Day 9 of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.

Meg Lemon (SA) and Emily Petricola (VIC) began their pursuit of gold in the Women’s C4-5 road race in exceptionally foggy conditions.

A cautious start was observed from all riders as they gained a sense of the wet circuit.

Petricola and Lemon found their footing in the race within the third group on the road containing the top C4 categorised riders.

A determined final lap from Port Adelaide Cycling Club’s Lemon delivered an eighth-place finish and the first C4 rider ahead of USA’s Shawn Morelli and Petricola in tenth.

Darren Hicks (SA) and David Nicholas (QLD) lined up in the C1-3 men’s road race, with the rain only intensifying at the Fuji International Speedway.

Hicks kept himself in contention for a medal throughout most of the race before a well-executed team performance from Great Britain’s trio of riders split the race into pieces.

With GB’s Benjamin Watson and Finlay Graham off the front of the race in clear medal-winning positions, the main bunch were resigned to battling it out for the bronze medal.

The fight for the final place on the podium came down to the final metres of the 79.2km race, with Frenchman Alexandre Leaute producing the strongest sprint of the chasing pack to earn his third medal of Tokyo 2020.

Hicks, the C2 Time Trial gold medallist, settled for 12th place.

C3 para-cyclist Nicholas crossed the line in 18th.

Three-time gold medallist Carol Cooke (VIC) started brightly in the Women’s T1-2 road race, leading from the front in the opening stanza.

As the race matured and stretched out, a mistake from Canadian Marie-Eve Croteau left Cooke with little room to escape a crash which spelled the end of both their road race ambitions.

Cooke was in good spirits post-race despite being taken to hospital for further checks.

Newcastle Cycling Club’s Stuart Jones (NSW) also began his pursuit of a Paralympic medal in the Men’s T1-2 road race positively, positioning himself in the first few wheels through the first of two laps around the Fuji International Speedway.

An attack from eventual gold medallist Jianxin Chen from China placed early pressure on the race, with Jones settling into sixth position.

Jones would finish his debut Paralympics campaign in eighth, 8:10, down on Chen.