21-year-old Victorian Lucas Plapp won the marquee event in front of fellow Victorian James Whelan in second.

O'Brien who races for team InForm TMX MAKE was pleased with his result but was initially hoping to improve on his eighth-place finish in the 2021 edition.

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His expectations were lowered however when he suffered a burst appendix just over a month ago.

"It was quite a good race, a bit unexpected to be honest because I didn't exactly have a brilliant lead-up," O'Brien said.

"I've sorta been dabbling around the top-ten for a fair few years. I was hoping to go a little bit better this year but I had my appendix burst at the start of December, so I wasn't even sure if I was going to race at all.

"I was pretty stoked with the way it panned out. Realistically I don't think I could have done too much better on the day.

"My wife's been terrific and she's been really helpful throughout. She was able to support me a lot leading into Nationals with my recovery from appendicitis and then still trying to train."

After a ten-year professional cycling career that took him all over Europe, 34-year-old O'Brien now calls Melbourne home with his wife and six-month-old child.

He works as a project manager in construction and also is a cycling coach for 25 people as a "side hustle".

These days cycling is solely about enjoyment for him.

"At the moment I just do it for a bit of fun really," he said.

"I love getting up for Nationals every year. It's my favourite race so it's a chance to rub shoulders with the best guys in Australia that come back from Europe and prove to myself that I can still be at that level," he said.

"I won't do too much racing this year with a six-month-old child and work.

"My next goal will be Melbourne to Warrnambool next month. I'm hoping that I can do a really strong ride there as well, I'd really like to get on the top step if everything panned out perfectly."

The fact that he can match it with the best Australian cyclists once a year is a great source of delight for O'Brien and is reflected in his nickname.

"I'm still super proud that I can get myself up and about and be competitive with the full-time euro professionals each year at nationals and then go off and come back," he said.

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"That's how I got myself the nickname Mr January."

Although O'Brien doesn't reside in Horsham anymore he still makes the trek "a few times a year" to see his parents and brother and even squeezes in some cycling in the Grampians while he's there.

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