US-based kiwi hand-cyclist, Rory Mead finished in a solo fourth placing in the men’s H2 road race at the UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships in Ronse, Belgium today.

The result mirrors his fourth-placed performance in the time trial earlier in the championships, finishing 8:58 down on the podium trio led by Paris Paralympic gold medallist Florian Jouanny. He cleared out to win from defending champion Garrote Munoz (ESP) and Luca Massone (ITA).

While Mead has upped his training regime and mileage since last year’s Paralympics, he still has some distance to the match the hierarchy in his class.

“I would give myself a three and a half out of five today,” said Mead. “I did want to get a lot closer and I have put in a lot of work behind the scenes over the last few months since we came back from Paris. And it has helped. I am stronger and I am getting closer to those guys,” said Mead.

“But I still got dropped. About five minutes in there’s a long climb and I just popped off the back right before the top and just could not get back on to the group.

“I felt pretty disappointed in myself but I regrouped and it was a solo effort all the way to the finish line. When there are three of them working together, they will always go quicker than you can by yourself.

“It’s a mental thing. I blocked it out and went, settled into a good pace and made sure the guys behind were not catching me.

“I still have a lot of work to do. I have had a good year of training. It is probably a good thing that I got beat like I did today because I will go home and work harder.

“Overall it was a good campaign. We have made progress but there’s still a lot of work to be done.”

Waikato’s Nicole Murray, who earned a bronze medal in the women’s C5 time trial, competes in her road race on the final day tomorrow.

Result, Men HC2 Road Race, 46.6km: Florian Jouanny (FRA) 1:17.08, 1; Sergio Garrote Munoz (ESP) at 35s, 2; Luca Massone (ITA) at 2:27, 3; Rory Mead (NZL) at 8.58, 4.