Ewan claims maiden men's national criterium title
Brenton Jones second, Anthony Giacoppo third
Caleb Ewan delivered upon his favourite status to claim his first elite Australian title ahead of Brenton Jones (Drapac) and Anthony Giacoppo (Avanti IsoWhey) and make it four wins from five starts on just the sixth day of the year.
"It was actually a big relief. I came into this race really, really nervous, I knew I had some good wins already in the bay crits so I was clearly the favourite for today and obviously there is a fair bit of pressure going into a race as a favourite," Ewan said of the win. "I can't fault the team at all, they rode it perfectly again and just gave me such an easy ride out there and that's what makes the difference in the end."
12-months ago Ewan was second to Steele von Hoff (ONE Pro Cycling), who finished 18th in his title defence, and added that he felt he has been chasing the elite title for more than two years.
"Obviously it's nice to get the gold one after one season. It feels really good and now I am an elite national champion and that's something nice to have on your palmarès. I m still looking forward to the road race, hats the big one you want to win so hopefully I can go well there."
"Its nice having a team you can really on so much," said Ewan who also had Mitch Docker and Jack Haig working for him. "I was sitting second wheel and Alex [Edmondson] was going so fast I don't think anyone could come past and I felt a few people trying to come around but he was going too quick and still had a enough gas to bring me most of the way up the straight as well."
While Drapac were challenging Orica-GreenEdge for pole position entering the final corner before the long drag up Sturt St, once Ewan came out of Edmondson's wheel there was no doubting just who was taking home the green and gold jersey.
How it unfolded
The grey skies of the early-afternoon had departed as the elite men started their 40 laps of Sturt St although there was no reprieve from the gusty winds. The fluro of Jay McCarthy's new Tinkoff kit was seen early in the race as he won the first intermediate sprint point having seen the likes of Adam Phelan, Sam Spokes (Drapac) and Robbie Hucker (Avanti IsoWhey) aggressive in the first few laps.
William Clarke (Drapac) took out the second intermediate ahead of Shaun O'Callaghan with McCarthy nipping in for third and sealing the sprint jersey.
Breaks formed and were caught with Drapac and Avanti the most active of the teams as Orica-GreenEdge controlled the group with Ewan sitting pretty. As the laps continued to tick over, there was no let up from Drapac and Avnti-IsoWhey with Travis Meyer and Pat Shaw trying their luck.
Full Results
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Caleb Ewan (Nsw) | 0:59:54 |
2 | Brenton Jones (Vic) | Row 1 - Cell 2 |
3 | Anthony Giacoppo (Wa) | Row 2 - Cell 2 |
4 | Patrick Shaw (Vic) | Row 3 - Cell 2 |
5 | Alexander Edmondson (Sa) | Row 4 - Cell 2 |
6 | Jackson Law (Nsw) | 0:00:04 |
7 | Luke Parker (Vic) | Row 6 - Cell 2 |
8 | Scott Sunderland (Wa) | 0:00:07 |
9 | Joel Walsh (Nsw) | Row 8 - Cell 2 |
10 | Robbie Hucker (Vic) | 0:00:11 |
11 | Sam Evans (Vic) | Row 10 - Cell 2 |
12 | Fabio Calabria (Vic) | Row 11 - Cell 2 |
13 | Cameron Ivory (Nsw) | Row 12 - Cell 2 |
14 | Tyler Spurrell (Vic) | Row 13 - Cell 2 |
15 | Aaron Watts (Nsw) | Row 14 - Cell 2 |
16 | James Cummings (Vic) | Row 15 - Cell 2 |
17 | Benjamin Hill (Act) | Row 16 - Cell 2 |
18 | Steele Von Hoff (Vic) | Row 17 - Cell 2 |
19 | Craig Hutton (Nsw) | Row 18 - Cell 2 |
20 | Tommy Nankervis (Vic) | 0:00:16 |
21 | Trevor Spencer (Vic) | 0:00:18 |
22 | Bernard Sulzberger (Tas) | 0:00:20 |
23 | Alexander Smyth (Vic) | 0:00:24 |
24 | Joshua Taylor (Nsw) | Row 23 - Cell 2 |
25 | Darcy Woolley (Vic) | 0:00:26 |
26 | Ray Forbes (Vic) | Row 25 - Cell 2 |
27 | Paul Van Der Ploeg (Vic) | Row 26 - Cell 2 |
28 | Adam Phelan (Act) | 0:00:29 |
29 | Jay McCarthy (Qld) | Row 28 - Cell 2 |
30 | Ivan Michelin-Beard (Act) | Row 29 - Cell 2 |
31 | Cameron Bayly (Sa) | Row 30 - Cell 2 |
32 | Dale Scarfe (Vic) | 0:00:31 |
33 | Kane Walker (Vic) | 0:00:33 |
34 | Graeme Brown (Wa) | 0:00:36 |
35 | Scott Law (Nsw) | Row 34 - Cell 2 |
36 | Lachlan Norris (Vic) | 0:00:42 |
37 | Glenn O'Shea (Sa) | 0:00:44 |
38 | William Clarke (Tas) | Row 37 - Cell 2 |
39 | Chris Winn (Vic) | Row 38 - Cell 2 |
40 | Jayden Copp (Qld) | 0:00:48 |
41 | Liam Kelly (Nsw) | 0:00:58 |
42 | Russell Gill (Sa) | 0:01:09 |
43 | Nicholas Woods (Qld) | 0:01:11 |
44 | Tom Robinson (Tas) | 0:01:14 |
45 | Sam Crome (Vic) | 0:01:17 |
46 | Mitchell Mulhern (Qld) | 0:01:44 |
47 | Samuel Volkers (Qld) | 0:02:45 |
DNF | Neil Van Der Ploeg (Vic) | Row 47 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Luke Durbridge (Aus) | Row 48 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Samuel Spokes (Nsw) | Row 49 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Travis Meyer (Wa) | Row 50 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Mitchell Docker (Aus) | Row 51 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Nathan Earle (Tas) | Row 52 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Jack Haig (Vic) | Row 53 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Patrick Lane (Vic) | Row 54 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Mark O'Brien (Vic) | Row 55 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Stuart Shaw (Act) | Row 56 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Shannon Johnson (Vic) | Row 57 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Andrew Killingsworth (Vic) | Row 58 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Dominik Dudkiewicz (Vic) | Row 59 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Matthias Kiernan (Vic) | Row 60 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Jacob Kauffmann (Nsw) | Row 61 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Peter Johnstone (Vic) | Row 62 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Patrick Drapac (Vic) | Row 63 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Thomas Coates (Qld) | Row 64 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Todd Satchell (Vic) | Row 65 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Shaun O'Callaghan (Vic) | Row 66 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Liam Hill (Vic) | Row 67 - Cell 2 |
DNS | Mitchell Lovelock-Fay (Act) | Row 68 - Cell 2 |
DNS | Alex Wohler (Qld) | Row 69 - Cell 2 |
DNS | Joel Strachan (Vic) | Row 70 - Cell 2 |
DNS | Jake Magee (Vic) | Row 71 - Cell 2 |
DNS | Ned Volk (Vic) | Row 72 - Cell 2 |
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