Now he’s taken place in the battle at Canungra on the Gold Coast where the Australia National Championships were held on March 18.

The track at Canungra is purpose built for the event, and the public are not normally allowed to ride on the track due to the difficult and ‘brutal’ nature of the course.

The difficulty of the course meant that many riders did not complete the race due to either injury to themselves or damages to their bikes.

A perfect start gave hope for Burke as he held third place for the majority of the race, but it was disaster in the final lap that brought him down.

A collision with another lapped rider on the course resulted in Burke having to run his bike over a muddy climb, and then there was difficulty getting his shoes to clip back into the pedals.

The crash lost three places for Burke, and he eventually finished sixth in the event – still a fantastic finish for the Mudgee speedster in a field of strong Australian talents.

Though he was disappointed with the result, and how it came about, Burke was still quite pleased.

“That’s just racing, and you can’t do anything about it,” he said.

Burke now faces one of the toughest challenges of the biking season – the NSW State Hill Climb Championship, to be held in Bathurst on April 1-2.

A number of Mudgee cyclists will also be attending the event.