Jackson Medway (Tudor Pro Cycling U23) won the battle for the Australian U23 men's road race title on Saturday by jumping away from his two breakaway companions and settling in for an 8km time trial effort which ended with a solo victory celebration in the centre of Perth.
The 2024 men's U23 time trial champion claimed the 135km race at the Westbridge Funds Road National Championships with a 53-second margin to Noah Blannin (CCACHE x Bodywrap), who had claimed the final spot on the criterium podium on Friday ahead of Medway. The considerable efforts in the criterium just 24 hours earlier clearly did nothing to dampen the form.
"Now I'm pretty bloody excited," said Medway in the post-race interview with broadcaster SBS when asked about how he felt about the season ahead given what he had just achieved. "I'd been taking it steady with my coach and my team after a rocky season in 2025, so I can't believe where I am at already.
"It's the first time I was actually patient in a race and it's paid off."
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Dylan Proctor-Parker (RCA Bikes Online) claimed the last spot on the road race podium while Jack Ward (Lidl-Trek Future) won the sprint from the first chasing group, which was more than two minutes back from Medway, to take fourth ahead of Wednesday's time trial champion William Holmes (Hagens Berman Jayco).
How it unfolded
The race, in summer temperatures that crept over 30 degrees Celsius, played out over ten laps of a 13.6km circuit, with 193m of elevation gain each lap. The course twisted its way through Kings Park and swept by the Swan River before hitting the CBD and a punchy climb that tops out just 400m before the finish line.
Connor Doyle (Butterfields Ziptrack Racing) made a move early, initially carving out a small gap but when three other riders came across the peloton decided it was time to reel it back in. It was a pattern that repeated on the climb with riders going but then again hauled back in as the gradient eased, so another tactic to get away was employed.
At around 90km to go, a group split off the front on another section of the course instead, and it was a substantial one with nearly a dozen included. They quickly stretched the gap to around 30 seconds.
The group included Tilly Hickman (Butterfields Ziptrack Racing), Justin Evans (New Energy Racing), early break rider Doyle, Lucas Stevenson (Team Brennan), Lucas Moore (NSTRMO x ATTAQUER x CCACHE), Dylan Proctor-Parker, criterium champion Jack Dohler (CCACHE x Bodywrap), Oliver Johnston (Hobart Wheelers), Tyler Tomkinson (Team Brennan), Joshua Cranage (Norwood) and Josiah Grierson (Penrith) while Jonas Shelverton (Hobard Wheelers) later jumped across.
They worked together to stretch the gap and by halfway through the race it was out to a minute and by 50km to go gap to peloton was up to 2 minutes.
The peloton wasn't hauling it back in but a chase group of five did, at under 30km to go. That included a number of dangerous riders, Medway, Blannin and Ward as well as Lindon Milostic (St George Continental Cycling) and Blannin's CCACHE x Bodywrap teammate Oscar Gallagher.
As they joined, however, Proctor-Parker and Evans took off. As a result, Medway and Blannin decided that they would leap to the front once again joining the two out front. The group of four quickly turned into a group of three, with Evans dropped, and while they worked together to pull out the gap initially, once the final lap was underway something had to give.
Instead of waiting to decide the podium on the final climb, Medway jumped at just under 8km to go, catching his two break companions by surprise, and then put his head down for a time trial effort that lasted right through to the line.
The competition continues on Sunday with the 109km combined U23 and elite women's road race and a 176km men's elite road race which will conclude the event.
Results
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