Rohan Dennis has won his third-straight time trial at the Australian road cycling championships, dominating Friday's event in Buninyong.
Dennis set the best time at every checkpoint and eventually caught runner-up Luke Durbridge (Mitchelton-Scott) before going on to cross the line alongside Scotson, who started two minutes ahead.
He clocked 51min and 13sec at 47.9km/hour to beat Durbridge by a minute seven seconds, while Richie Porte (BMC) was third at 1min 43sec.
"I held on for longer and didn't blow out as much as what I would normally do," Dennis said. "I was told to go out a bit easier this year but in the end, I feel it out.
"I actually just seemed to be able to hold myself and compose myself, until 5km to go, instead of suffering with 10km to go and sit pretty comfortably.
"I did a few extra things to keep cooler out there. It's never a bad thing [to catch the rider in front] but I still didn't know how Richie was going. I heard at one stage that I was a minute up on him but then I heard nothing. But, I was confident with the power I was holding."
Lucy Kennedy, Katrin Garfoot and Shara Gillow. (Kathryn Watt) Source: Kathryn Watt
Earlier on Friday, Katrin Garfoot dominated the women's time trial to also win for the third year in a row.
She posted 41min 45sec over the 29.5km course at Buninyong, near Ballarat and caught several riders who started ahead of her.
She beat silver medallist Lucy Kennedy by a whopping two minutes 28 seconds and four-time winner Shara Gillow was another seven seconds behind for the bronze medal.
Last year, she fell just short of a two-minute winning margin over the same course.
Garfoot's bronze medal in the time trial and silver in the road race at the world championships last September meant she was already a certain Games selection.
Friday reaffirmed that the Queenslander will be one of the key members of the Australian cycling team for the April Games on the Gold Coast.
"With the Comm Games coming up, having that one in the pocket means I will probably get the start, which I really wanted," she said. "I am ... just more relieved.
"There's always pressure - can I pull it off again? It means a lot to have the gold medal."
Garfoot will also be the defending champion in Sunday's road race but said that was not yet on her mind.
She put all her focus on the time at the world titles before thinking about the road race and is continuing with that strategy.
"I've learned I have to celebrate wins - I'm not much of a celebrater, so I will celebrate this one today," she said.
"Tomorrow, I will think about Sunday. It worked for me at the world championships and I will just take the same approach. Otherwise, it all mixes it up in my head."
Garfoot joined Dennis, Callum Scotson (men's under-23 time trial) and Caleb Ewan (criterium) as riders who have won three-straight titles at this year's championships.
