There’s nowhere to hide. No teammates to help you. No peloton to seek shelter from the wind. No one to set the tempo.

It’s the rider, their bike, the road and the elements against the clock.

It’s a lonely road with each rider taking to the course on their own. The fastest time wins.

Tactics aren’t a major factor.

When asked about his tactics before a time trial at the Tour de France, Cadel Evans once said, “I’ll start fast, go as fast as I can in the middle and hope it’s fast enough at the end.”

It’s simply a case of who’s the best physically and psychologically.

You go to your physical limit and it then comes down to the rider’s psychological strength.

Their ability to stay at the terribly uncomfortable point of teetering on their physical limit without going into the red-zone.

It was in the individual time trail that Cadel clinched victory in the 2011 Tour de France.

He kept himself in contention in the mountains, even saved the Tour in the mountains, but it was in the time trial that he won the Tour.

For Sir Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome their victories in the Tour de France, in 2012 and 2013 respectively, were set-up with brilliant performances in this discipline.

Australians have developed a great reputation in this race, particularly with the young talent coming through.

Luke Durbridge, Damian Howson and Campbell Flakemore have all been world champions, at the under-23 level, in the time trial.

And Michael Rogers is a triple world champion, while Michael Hepburn, a world champion on the velodrome, comes in as the defending champion.

Add to the mix Rohan Dennis and Richie Porte, who have both been top-five finishes at the world championships, and it’s easy to see that Buninyong will witness a world-class race among the elite men.

Cycling enthusiasts around the world will be watching the outcome of this race.

The women’s race will see three time winner Shara Gillow aim to get back to her best after a disappointing 2014.

Gillow was never really at her best this season but she won’t be getting any favours from the defending champion, Felicity Wardlaw.

A new course is being used in 2015, an out-and-back course that starts and finishes in Buninyong.

Having looked at the course, on the Cycling Australia website, there doesn’t appear to be a flat stretch of road. Plus the turn-around point is near a wind farm, which will ensure tough conditions.

With an unforgiving new course and a world-class field the “race of truth” will deliver a worthy winner of the green and gold jersey.

Event details – individual time trial

Date:              Thursday 8 January

Where:          Buninyong 

When:            U23 men, 29.3km, 10:30am

                        U23 and elite women, 29.3km, 12:30pm

                        Elite men, 40.9km, 2:15pm