Luke Plapp had the solution for the depleted Australian men's road cycling team at the Commonwealth Games.
Rope in his girlfriend, women's road race gold medallist Georgia Baker.
Hours after Baker capitalised on seamless teamwork to win the women's event, Plapp hit the front in the last few hundred metres with a solo charge.
But it didn't work and Plapp finished sixth as in-form New Zealander Aaron Gate won ahead of South African Daryl Impey, with Scot Finn Crockett third at Warwick, south of Birmingham.
"The way she smoked them in the finish with the women, it wouldn't be too bad," Plapp said.
"We should have just called her up and said, 'hey, you've done the women's, now hop in the men's - she would have been the quickest out of all of us.
"I had to play the game at the end and have a crack. I can be satisfied with how I raced.
"I needed some hesitation for it to work."
Unlike the women's team, which was settled weeks before the Games, the Australian men's squad was hit by withdrawals.
First Michael Matthews and Kaden Groves were unavailable because of trade team commitments and Caleb Ewan pulled out last week as he recovers from shoulder surgery.
Time trial gold medallist Rohan Dennis was hospitalised on race eve, with no details on what forced him out.
"It was as big a blow as it was to lose Kaden, Bling (Matthews) and Caleb," Plapp said of Dennis' withdrawal.
"It's hard when you don't have your four best riders in the team - they're our four key riders.
"We gave it a crack. We'll be back.
"I was out there to throw some bombs and see what went off."
Plapp's unsuccessful late attack meant Australia fell one short of repeating their sweep of the road events on the Gold Coast.
Along with Dennis and Baker, Grace Brown also won the women's time trial.
Plapp overtook star Ineos Grenadiers teammate Geraint Thomas inside the last kilometre also made a late solo attack.
"Little bastard," Thomas joked.
A mechanical issue meant Plapp had to settle for fifth in the time trial and he also won bronze in the team pursuit on the track.
He was disappointed with his results, but keen to compete at the Paris Olympics.
Thomas and Isle Of Man sprint ace Mark Cavendish, nicknamed the Manx Missile, were the two biggest names in the men's race.
All eyes were on Cavendish, given if it came down to a bunch sprint then he would be odds-on favourite for the gold medal.
But Plapp joined Thomas in the key group of 15 riders that broke clear with about 100km left and made it a pulsating race, despite the flat circuit.
Cavendish missed the break and finished 44th, more than eight minutes adrift.
Australian Associated Press
