Tobias Foss was the complete center of attention in the time trial at the UCI Road World Championships. While many of his Norwegian rivals were surprised to hear that he had won, it was Foss himself who was the most surprised.

All of the 25-year-old elite rider's previous victories have come at the Norwegian Championships, and this year he also had two time trial victories and a road race win. In 2019, however, he showed his promise by winning the overall at the Tour de Lavenir, resulting in a contract with Jumbo Visma.

There were hints of his time trial prowess, which he showcased spectacularly in Wollongong, when he finished third in the Torino time trial at last year's Giro d'Italia. But his form-building ahead of this year's World Championships may have been hidden behind the work of his Jumbo Visma teammate's results.

"It was definitely unexpected. Coming from Canada, I knew I was in good shape and I did a good job.

"My training over the last month and a half to two months has been going well and I wanted to run deep today.

"I prepared well and performed well. I still can't believe it and I'm surprised at myself.

Adding to the element of surprise and reassuring his rivals was the speed of his finish. Foss was fourth fastest at the first intermediate time of 7.2 km, second fastest at 24.5 km, and fastest at the finish line. He raced under the tall trees lining Marine Drive and crossed the finish line 3 seconds ahead of Stefan Kühn (Switzerland) and 9 seconds ahead of Vuelta a España winner Remco Evenpole (Belgium).

"The game plan today was to work the terrain on the first lap, go hard in the hard parts, but recover a little where the speed was going. Especially on the downhills before the corners and on the flat parts," Foss said.

The 34.2km elite men's time trial on the opening day of the UCI Road World Championships in Wollongong took place on a route that took riders from the center of Wollongong through and around a series of corners before returning to the coastal course.

"I was riding a little bit more restrained to make sure the race went well," said the men's team leader. The last six kilometers were pretty tough, and it was a long straight, so it was a little tough mentally as well." The last six kilometers were pretty tough, and a little tough mentally, too, because it was a long straight.

It hasn't been an easy year for Foss, but it was a dream finish.

"Honestly, it was a pretty tough season mentally. I feel like I made very good steps throughout the winter training," said the Norwegian rider, adding that he felt like he was on to something good at the season opener at Volta ao Algarve. He then crashed at Coppi [e Bartali] and hit his head hard."

Foss said that after the Norwegian National Championships in June, he gave his body and mind a much needed rest.

"Then I was really fresh, especially mentally, to be able to do the hard work required for this race. This race was a really big goal for me."