Ewan makes it two from two

Caleb Ewan (NSW) made it two wins from as many races with victory in a small bunch sprint to claim his first and only U23 men's road race crown. Robert Power (WA) animated the final in the final lap but couldn't match the speed of Ewan. Rounding out the podium was Brad Linfield (WA) who has also been active as the six man group that stayed away in trying to drop Ewan.

"My main goal coming here was the road race to come here and get that and the crit, I’m so happy with how I went," Ewan said in the aftermath of his win.

"I knew that if I didn’t go well here I might not have been ready for Tour Down Under. This is a really indication that I could be going well," Ewan said. "Those two guys came here without teammates as well and I think it’s really good that we all came as individuals and took out the podium."

"It’s really special, whether I like it or not, my last U23 national title so to get both wins, I can’t really explain it. It’s a really great feeling to be able to back-up and show that I can be a good road rider not just a crit rider."

"The last time up that climb I was cramping the whole way, I just had to make it look like I wasn’t going that hard when they attacked me," Ewan said.

"It was quite aggressive on the last climb and I was able to cover all the moves and I knew if I covered all the moves and I got to the finish with the whole bunch that I would have a good shot of winning the kick. Just to get here in the end and win is such a relief."

Despite being a marked rider throughout the race, the hilly curcuit lends itself more to climbers and Ewan explained it benefited his ability to make an attack and stay away. "I feel a bit more relaxed now. I didn’t really get to soak it in after the crit so to get both titles, I’m really happy with that. It's hard being marked all the time but I think a lot of guys didn’t really know if could get over the hill which helped me and with a lot of other good climbers there that also helped. I wasn’t like the crit where I was really the main guy to win there so it was a bit more free today and I was away by myself for a bit today and that break that eventually won the race got over to me," Ewan said.

A five man break had established a nice lead that hovered around the 1:30 minute slightly fluctuating lap-by-lap until Avanti put the hammer down on the descent and the lead was cut to a meagre 30 seconds. Mitchell Cooper, Jason Lowdnes, Jeremy Cameron, Samuel Wood and Michael Crosbie were all in the early group.

King of the mountains winner, Michael Crosbie was in doubt for the race but having got into an early breakaway was rewarded with the polka dot jersey. "Last Sunday I had a crash and was in operation that night so I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to race but I got the go ahead yesterday from the surgeon that I could race. I’m really happy to be here," Crosbie said

Several more groups formed but nothing was sticking until Ewan went out on his own. Jack Haig and last year’s winner Jordan Kerby effectively marked each other out of the race although Haig did try his luck on the climb.

With a group of six including the podium place getters were Harry Carpenter, Shaun Callaghan and Thomas Hamilton. Carpenter and Power tried their best with repeated attacks but neither rider could shake Ewan and when became inevitable that it would a sprint, no-one was going to match the criterium winner’s speed.

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