Caleb Ewan wins in a canter

Despite being only the NSWIS rider in the race, a heavily marked Caleb Ewan made his move when it counted and was lengths ahead of Robert McCarthy as he claimed his maiden U23 National Criterium title. Harry Carpenter tried his best to forget his narrow loss in yerterday's time trial with a long solo ride off the front but was caught with five laps left.

Ewan launched no attacks of his own and let his rivals control race which played into his hands. "We wanted to let the other people work and we forced [Avanti] to do that and obviously they didn't have anyone in the break so it was perfect for me. I was in perfect position coming into the last straight and not too close to the front and not too far back and it just worked out perfectly in the in," Ewan said.

As the team with the largest numbers, the onus to chase was on Avanti and it appeared they may have done enough when Carpenter was caught. Once he was caught, the attacks came thick and fast with Darcy Woolley trying his luck.

Samuel Spokes lead what remained of the 65 rider who started the race around for the final lap but didn't have the legs to take the win.

[Saturday's road race] is the big one to win and all my preparations are pretty much for that. We saw Harry Carpenter out all day and that a really impressive ride and he did another impressive ride in the time trial and I am sure he is going to be really hard to beat," Ewan said.

"There are at least 20 guys in that bunch that can win that road race which makes it really unpredictable and when you don't have a team it's quite hard. This win doesn't change my strategy or plans for Saturday's road race at all." 

Ewan had enough time to sit up and look back at the chaser's who couldn't match such top end speed. "Because I came from behind I knew the guys that were really contesting the sprint so when I looked back I just made sure I had enough time to put my hands in the air."

"The good thing about being a heavily marked person is that a lot of the fighting goes on behind you… I got to sit exactly where I wanted to most of the day because a lot of people just let me in so it's not all downsides to being a favourite for a race," Ewan said.

Carpenter didn't come up completely empty handed as we won the sprint classification. "I was very happy to take the jersey but it would have been nice to hang on for a few more laps until the end but you can’t win everything so I was just determined to out there and give it my best," Carpenter said.

"It’d be a dream to win the road race on Saturday, yesterday was tough being so close national champion. I was aiming for podium and to get was awesome but there was a fair of fire left in the belly so I was determined to come out today and give it a fair crack and see what I could do but I couldn’t quite hang on at the end," Carpenter said.

 

Results

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#Rider Name (Country)Result
1Caleb Ewan (NSW)0:46:14
2Robert-Jon McCarthy (SA)Row 1 - Cell 2
3Alex Wohler (QLD)Row 2 - Cell 2
4Luke Parker (VIC)Row 3 - Cell 2
5Bradley Linfield (WA)Row 4 - Cell 2
6Samuel Wood (QLD)0:00:04
7Jack Beckinsale (NSW)Row 6 - Cell 2
8Patrick Sharpe (NSW)Row 7 - Cell 2
9Samuel Spokes (NSW)Row 8 - Cell 2
10Ayden Toovey (NSW)0:00:06
11Jack McCulloch (NSW)0:00:08
12Sam Sautelle (ACT)Row 11 - Cell 2
13Tyler Spurrell (VIC)Row 12 - Cell 2
14Michael Hale (VIC)Row 13 - Cell 2
15Nicholas Schultz (QLD)Row 14 - Cell 2
16Angus Tobin (NSW)0:00:11
17Samuel Nelson (NSW)0:00:14
18James Butler (VIC)Row 17 - Cell 2
19Robert Power (WA)Row 18 - Cell 2
20Wade Longworth (WA)0:00:17
21Nathan Bradshaw (NSW)0:00:29
22Campbell Flakemore (TAS)0:00:46
23Jack Haig (VIC)Row 22 - Cell 2
24Jesse Kerrison (QLD)Row 23 - Cell 2
25Jason Lowndes (VIC)0:00:55
26Ryan Thomas (NSW)Row 25 - Cell 2
27Kristian Juel (QLD)0:00:57
28Harry Carpenter (SA)Row 27 - Cell 2
29Jeremy Cameron (VIC)0:01:02
304350:01:09
31Ryan Cavanagh (QLD)0:01:12
32George Tansley (SA)0:01:19
33David Fumpson (SA)0:01:35
34Matthew Lane (VIC)0:02:12
DNFTom Kaesler (SA)Row 34 - Cell 2
DNFMitchell Lovelock-Fay (ACT)Row 35 - Cell 2
DNFAlexander Clements (TAS)Row 36 - Cell 2
DNFBrendon Meney (WA)Row 37 - Cell 2
DNFJordan Payne (NSW)Row 38 - Cell 2
DNFAden Reynolds (NSW)Row 39 - Cell 2
DNFNicholas Graham-Dawson (WA)Row 40 - Cell 2
DNFAngus Hayes (ACT)Row 41 - Cell 2
DNFGuy Kalma (WA)Row 42 - Cell 2
DNFJackson Mawby (WA)Row 43 - Cell 2
DNFNathan Booth (ACT)Row 44 - Cell 2
DNFScott Mcphee (SA)Row 45 - Cell 2
DNFRyan MacAnally (QLD)Row 46 - Cell 2
DNFIvan Michelin-Beard (NSW)Row 47 - Cell 2
DNFCameron Parlevliet (VIC)Row 48 - Cell 2
DNFJoshua Cornish (NSW)Row 49 - Cell 2
DNFDarcy Woolley (VIC)Row 50 - Cell 2
DNFJames Cummings (VIC)Row 51 - Cell 2
DNFJarryd Jones (VIC)Row 52 - Cell 2
DNFSam Crome (VIC)Row 53 - Cell 2
DNFCamden Bush (VIC)Row 54 - Cell 2
DNFReece Robinson (NSW)Row 55 - Cell 2
DNFLiam White (VIC)Row 56 - Cell 2
DNFMark Kelly (VIC)Row 57 - Cell 2
DNFKyle Thompson (VIC)Row 58 - Cell 2
DNFAidan Bowe (VIC)Row 59 - Cell 2
DNFTheodore Yates (WA)Row 60 - Cell 2
DNFBen Carman (QLD)Row 61 - Cell 2
DNFTasman Nankervis (VIC)Row 62 - Cell 2
DNFSamuel Hill (NSW)Row 63 - Cell 2
DNSEdward Bissaker (SA)Row 64 - Cell 2
DNSDimitry Makeev (VIC)Row 65 - Cell 2
DNSOliver Martin (TAS)Row 66 - Cell 2
DNSSean Whitfield (ACT)Row 67 - Cell 2
DNSTom Chapman (SA)Row 68 - Cell 2
DNSChris Hamilton (VIC)Row 69 - Cell 2
DNSSean Mciver (VIC)Row 70 - Cell 2

 

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