Brenton Jones is about to retire but won the opening stage of the men's Citroën Bay Crits, the early-season races that have been an integral part of his cycling career.
Defending champion Blake Quick returned the lead out favours of the previous edition and set-up Jones for the sprint finish. He had time to sit up and throw his hands up in celebration while Graeme Frislie (CCACHE x Par Kup) came through the line in second and Blake Agnoletto (ARA Skip Capital) took third.
Next over the line was Quick, sitting up and celebrating with a hand in the air in celebration of his teammate's emphatic victory.
The first race of the three stage Citroën Bay Crits was never going to be easy but the 2014 winner used his experience and team to make it look that way. Jones grew up at the event, with his mother Karin Jones long a vital part of the organisation.
He used his experience and bike skills to come through the final corner on Quick’s wheel having already gapped the rest of the field and had no trouble finishing off the task at hand.
"I didn't want to accelerate too much during the race, you saw Blake and the rest of my teammates doing that the whole time and it gave me a chance to sit in, recover and save for a big finish that happened very nicely thanks to the massive lead out," said Jones in an interview on the live stream of the race on the SBS Sport Facebook page.
It was a taxing 35°C as riders tackled the first laps of the 1.92km Eastern Gardens criterium course, for 50 minutes of racing plus three laps in Geelong, the waterside city which will also host the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race later in January.
An early break of seven and then three – Tom Chester, James Moriarty (CCACHE x Par Kup) and Elliot Schultz (Team Bridgelane), held firm until after the halfway mark of the race. Yet the Bayside Citroën team of defending champion Quick and eventual winner Jones were on the hunt, jumping onto the front of the peloton to try and pull back the gap. They were also joined by ARA Skip Capital, who had the speed of Craig Wiggins, and as it turns out Agnoletto, in the sprint as a good incentive to bring the bunch back together.
The three were reeled back in at the halfway point, with a moment of calm before other attacks went. That may have had more to do with the high pace Australian road champion Luke Plapp (Bayside Citroën) was setting on the front.
Hunter McGovern nipped off for a short while, but went from the front to the back as the speed picked up, stringing out the peloton as it raced along the circuit with views across Corio Bay.
Then the top riders such as Quick, Australian criterium champion Cameron Ivory, Simon Clarke, Jones and Plapp assembled at the front. With the pressure on about ten riders created a gap for a moment but it was all back together at the 50 minute mark. Clarke had another dig in the meantime but the riders came through the line all together with two laps to go.
The final laps were about the jostling for position and assembling of lead outs but no one could rival Quick, who with Jones on his wheel, pulled away from the rest of the field before the final corner. That left Jones perfectly positioned to deliver a victory that is bound to see him walking away from his final race on a high.
Results powered by FirstCycling
