Whenever people talk about the elite men's road race in Zurich this week, one rider comes to mind. While Tadei Pogachal's individual talent is understandably the focus of attention after his performances in France and Italy, it would be a shame to overlook the collective strength of the riders who will be competing on Sunday.

Australia's victory in the midweek mixed team time trial was certainly a reminder of the depth of the field, with three members of the men's elite team (Ben O'Connor, Jay Vine, and Michael Matthews) running the winning first leg.

Matthews confessed after the race that he went into the race with an eye toward high-intensity scouting of the road race course. Matthews' pedigree as a three-time medalist in road racing makes it clear that he is a key player in the Australian national team.

“Bling is a genius at circuit racing and always gets results,” O'Connor said in the mixed zone after winning the mixed relay.

“I think there are quite a few athletes. If you look at the athletes starting, Jai [Hindley] is there, myself, and Jay [Bein] is tearing his legs off.

O'Connor comes to the Worlds after a spirited ride at the Vuelta a España. After an impressive solo victory in Junquera, he led the race for two weeks, finishing second overall behind Primoš Roglic.

He could have been forgiven for ending his season immediately after the Vuelta, but he was determined to compete in the Zurich World Championships.

The riders who went straight from the Vuelta, including Roglic, seemed to struggle in the 46km trial.

“I've been pretty banged up and in bad shape for the last two weeks,” smiled O'Connor when asked about his recovery from the Vuelta.

“The first week was probably the most physically exhausting in the Grand Tours. The first week was probably the most physically exhausting in the Grand Tour,” O'Connor said.

“I was going to do the time trial, I wanted to, but my body was saying no. But I feel like I'm alive again and I'm feeling pretty good, so hopefully Sunday will be a good end to the season."

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The mixed relay world title he won on Wednesday with Grace Brown, Brody Chapman, and Ruby Roseman-Gannon means that O'Connor already has something tangible to show for his trip to Switzerland. However, the 28-year-old O'Connor will be competing in his second road race world championship this weekend.

O'Connor learned the nuances of the 27-km finishing circuit by riding as fast as he could on his own leg of the mixed relay. The repeated climbs will be a major strain in the nearly seven-hour race, but O'Connor believes that the circuit will give more racers a break than originally thought.

“You actually get quite a lot out of sitting on the wheels,” O'Connor said. 'Maybe not so much on the first climb, but after that you're sitting down a lot more.'

“It's pretty narrow in parts, so I'm curious to see how it would be in a group. Sometimes you think the course is resilient, but it's not. It's a mystery how the circuit will turn out, but I guess we'll find out on the second lap. 0]

O'Connor saw Pogachar's dominance up close when he finished fourth behind Pogachar at this year's Giro d'Italia, but cautioned against the notion that Australia and all others would race around the Slovenian's moves.

“Lemko is as much a one-day racer as Pogi. Lemko has as big a palmarès as Pogi.”

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