Confidence is sky high for Australia's world champion team pursuit outfit ahead of the Tokyo Olympics after they overcame their mentor's absence to claim World Cup gold at Anna Meares Velodrome.
Australia were reeling ahead of the three-day meet that concludes on Sunday when Decker underwent an operation to repair a brain bleed following an accident while riding his bike.
They were told the man who had guided both the men's and women's team pursuit outfits to stunning 2019 world title victories would be out of action until the New Year.
The shock news came just five years after Decker first underwent brain surgery following another bike crash.
Decker may have been recovering in Adelaide but he still proved to be an inspiration at the Brisbane World Cup's opening night on Friday, with both the men's and women's combinations toasting their mentor after striking gold.
"He's one of the main cogs in our team. I know how much he was hurting not being here," Australian women's star Annette Edmondson said.
"We got a call from him just before the finals and we know he is with us every step of the way.
"We can't wait for him to get back but it's nice to know we can do it without him if we have to."
The Australian men threatened to break their own world record in the first round heats before finishing almost four seconds ahead of New Zealand in the finals.
And the Australian women gave their national record a nudge on their way to holding out the Kiwis in the gold medal race.
"We didn't have our coach so we didn't have any splits, so it was all about feel and knowing each other - that comes from years of training together," Australian men's star Sam Welsford said.
"We rely on Tim a lot so it was actually good for us to be self-reliant and focus on what we could do, trusting our ability and backing ourselves.
"But we can't wait to have him back."
With Decker set to reunite with his beloved team on January 1, the Australian team are backing themselves for more gold at February's world titles in Berlin before launching their Tokyo Olympic campaign.
"We gave him a surprise call before the final and he said he misses us," Welsford said.
"He is so eager to get back. We kept telling him to 'relax, we will bring you back January 1'.
"But he seemed really good, so much better. We could see the Tim Decker determination was back."
