The High5 Dream Team got off to a dream start to the 2016 National Capital Tour, with Rebecca Wiasak and Lucy Kennedy going 1-2 in the Stage 1 time trial. With just two seconds separating the duo, it gives the team plenty of cards to play going into a jam packed weekend of racing.

‘I absolutely love racing at home, I think the event is really beautiful taking in some iconic landmarks in Canberra.

‘I’ll be doing everything I can to support my teammates tomorrow and then on Sunday as well. It’s nice to get the result as well as a reward for everyone’s hard work.

‘Ben (Hill) and I came out and did some course recon, broke it down into sections so we knew which parts of the course we could aero-tuck and save up some energy and some time. I put some time into Lisen (Hockings, who had started a minute ahead) at the turnaround so that gave me some confidence.

‘When I turned, I had no idea what was happening with time checks, but I kept trying to close it down on Lisen. She got away from me at the top of the climb a bit and I wasn’t sure if I could hold on once I saw the finish I was just trying to keep it above 300 watts whilst my legs were screaming at me.

‘Our last gym session was at the Olympic staging camp and we all did PBs in the gym QRM box squats, I think I did 120 kilos, so I’ve been carrying that weight and I’ve been a bit slow because of that amount of work that we have to do as track riders in the gym. Now I’ve shed some of that weight and non-functional muscle.

‘We’ll hopefully keep the jersey tomorrow, maybe I’ll trade with Lucy as she’s got the sprinter’s jersey!’ said Wiasak.

Pleased with her second place finish on the stage and looking ahead to a day of climbing, Lucy Kennedy is confident the good results will continue.

‘Ever since the course came out for this tour I’ve really targeted it. Even though there’s not a lot of climbing in it, they are really decisive climbs, so it’s definitely the race I’ve been focusing on.

‘It was a bit of a nervous wait for me with still ten riders to finish after me. I was obviously hoping to hold on but to have Beck take it instead is just as good, now we’re sitting one and two with a decent buffer over Ruth (Corset). We’ve got a couple of different cards to play in the upcoming stages so it should be really exciting.

‘I’m really excited to finish up Black Mountain, we’ve had hilltop finishes before, but I’ve never really found it tough enough. I think we’ll race it pretty aggressively.

‘I’ve been pretty disappointed about some of my time trials at recent tours so be right up the pointy end is really satisfying,’ said Kennedy.