Australia's national cross-country champion Matt Dyham finished seventh in the road race at the Under 23 Men's World Championships in wet and cold conditions. The result was also his country's highest finish at an U23 event since Jason Lownes finished sixth in Doha in 2016.

Dinam finished seventh in the group sprint, three seconds behind breakaway winner Evgeny Fedorov (Kazakhstan) and two seconds behind silver medalist Matthias Vacek (Czech Republic).

With a can of Fanta in his hand, a smile on his face, and a full-body shake, Dinam stopped to talk to reporters in the mixed zone.

"Honestly, I'm pretty happy with the result," he said.

"Obviously, there were some really strong teams with experienced and older riders. But the other riders did really well. They looked after me very well from the beginning."

"I was very happy with the result,"

"I was very happy with the way it went.

Fedorov and Vacek moved ahead on the last lap, but behind them was a battle for the bronze medal.

"On the final lap climb, I tried to see if I could get away and if I could force it. Considering it was a sprint race, I'm happy with the result."

The difficulty of the technical urban circuit course with its 33 corners was compounded by the fact that the race started in pouring rain and conditions did little to ease over the next four hours. Dingman proved to be one of the riders who benefited from the inclement weather.

"In the first few laps, you know where you can make up positions, which corners are slippery and which are not," he said of the race, which saw 59 riders drop out, "It just got easier because there were fewer of us.

"There were fewer riders fighting for position. There were a lot of corners and that was very important. I think I was able to play to my strengths, and I was able to be more selective. Without the same number of teams, it was a little easier to take positions against the bigger teams."

Wollongong was not Dinghim's first world championship in Australia; in 2017 he competed in the junior cross-country at the mountain bike world championships in Cairns, finishing seventh on a very dry and dusty course.

And perhaps at the cost of ostracizing himself from the mountain biking community, Dinhim, who dreams of racing on the World Tour, was quick to answer when asked which of the two home World Championships was the better experience.

"I would have to mention the road world championships," he said. 'There are a lot of spectators and the Wollongong circuit is really well done. The Wollongong circuit is a really great circuit with lots of spectators. I think the locals are getting used to the circuit now that they can watch the races all week long. Thank you so much to everyone who has been so supportive."

"It's been a great experience.

Dinham was then one of the last riders to leave the mixed zone to take a hot shower.