For all of Josh Jolly's innate talent, accomplishments and potential, not even he expected to leave his debut elite UCI BMX Racing World Cup weekend as a winner.
The 20-year-old sent shockwaves through the elite class on Saturday, winning the sixth round by 0.051 seconds ahead of Frenchman Jeremy Rencurel courtesy of a last-ditch lunge on the finish line.
ARA Australian Cycling Team's reigning under-23 world champion and former junior world champion chased and pestered Rencurel for the first three straights of the Mentougou track before making his winning move down the final straight.
"It's hard to put into words to be honest," Jolly said.
"I expected a lot out of myself coming into this weekend, my first World Cup weekend in elite, but, you know, I think I definitely exceeded my expectations today, and, yeah, I couldn't be more stoked.
"My gates today were much better than yesterday. I had some solid laps but in that final I was following him.
"I was getting bucked wild because of the wind. I felt like I was a cowboy, but ... just had a solid lap and I knew that I had track speed so I could catch up to him.
"I caught him at the finish line lunge, and I didn't actually know if I got it or not, but I'm so stoked.
"I came into this weekend as the underdog and you know, I kind of use that to my advantage.
"So, I didn't go too hard on myself and expect too much, but definitely going forward I'm going to expect more of these wins, more podiums — so happy."
Jolly's confidence was soaring after finishing third 24 hours ago in Round 5, and race-winning speed followed.
His 31.059 semifinal time was a track record and the fastest of both rounds in Mentougou, bringing with it an extra yellow plate bonus for the Chongli double-header next weekend.
Race-winning speed was also flowing for Teya Rufus in women elite.
The 20-year-old finished sixth in the final and set the second fastest lap time of the day to vanquish her quarterfinal exit disappointment from a day earlier.
World champion Jesse Asmus, 23, handled the rainbow jersey pressure to secure his second elite World Cup main ticket, ultimately finishing seventh.
A quarterfinal last corner mistake and pedal unclipping from Round 5's third place finisher Sienna Pal resulted in an early end to her day.
Feature picture: Navada Photography