Roberts, who is fresh off a victory at the State Criterium Championships last month, first competed in the NSW Hill Climb Championships, which were held on Bathurst’s famed Mount Panorama on Saturday morning. 

Among a field of 18 competitors, Roberts managed a time of 8:38.65, which placed him in second behind race favourite Ben Dyball, who came in at 8:23.69.

“That was Ben Dyball, his last race win was a couple of weeks ago,” Roberts said. 

“He won a tour of Thailand, so he’s actually a very good rider. He was obviously the man to watch. 

“Pretty happy to come second behind him, that’s always a good achievement. [I’m] pretty happy with that one, that was another state championship medal.”

Competing in the Hill Climb event requires a specific strategy in order to be successful, Roberts explained. 

“You need to pace it really well, if you go too hard too early you can definitely suffer on the climb,” he said. 

“But if you go too slow, then obviously you’re going to lose valuable seconds, and at the end of an eight and a half minute effort, seconds are what it comes down to.” 

Out of the three state championship events so far this year, Roberts has claimed two podiums, which has given him plenty of confidence ahead of the final state championship event, the Goulburn Great Divide Road Race, on September 9. 

“At this stage, if I stay healthy and stay two wheels on the ground and don’t crash or anything between now and then, I’d obviously like to give that a crack as well,” Roberts said. 

The second race from the weekend served as a particularly effective confidence booster for Roberts, as it was the 110km Blayney to Bathurst endurance ride, which requires comparable skills and strategy to the Great Divide. 

Although a mixup with the guide cars saw Roberts’ team temporarily take the wrong route, and potentially cost them one or two places, a fifth place finish was enough to please the young cyclist and ensure him that he’s on the right track for this season. 

But before Roberts will attempt his next state championship, he will first look to conquer the Grafton to Inverell Australian Classic in four weeks time. 

“I’m training for that at the moment and I’m doing roughly between 20 and 27 hours a week on the bike,” Roberts said. 

“So heading towards this weekend, I’m in a big block of training at the moment, so I didn’t really back it off. It was just kind of go in and get a good hard weekend of racing into my legs.”