Cam Scott claims U23 criterium gold

Cam Scott (Australian Cycling Academy) celebrates

Cam Scott (Australian Cycling Academy) celebrates (Image credit: Con Chronis)

Cam Scott finished off a perfect debut for new Continental team Australian Cycling Academy in the U23 men's criterium, outkicking Dylan Sunderland (Bennelong SwissWellness) in a two-up race for the title.

Scott's teammate and two-time track world champion Sam Welsford surged from the closing peloton to take bronze.

Scott, who turns 20 on Thursday, continues a recent trend of emerging track riders to claim the gold medal on Ballarat's Sturt St following in the footsteps of Alex Porter and Caleb Ewan.

"I saw we had a pretty good gap over the bunch and I was taking hard turns up the straight and recovering on the downhill," Scott said. "I was always watching for Dylan Sunderland, I know he's a dangerous rider, and I was waiting for him to make a dangerous move.

"We have a couple of strong riders for the finish with Toby Orchard and Sam Welsford as well and a few other guys who are climbers and can mix it up a bit in the breakaways. We were initially looking for a sprint finish but I found myself off the front with a few guys and had a teammate with me so we rode with that and changed our plan a little. We just had to be smart about it."

A solo rider in the race, Sunderland explained he needed a canny ride to win. Having made the final selection, Sunderland tipped his hat to Scott, explaining he simply couldn't match his speed.

"I had to be willing to lose it to try and get the victory," Sunderland said. "I knew it was a hard task to come off Cam in the sprint. I had a crack but I didn't have the speed quite in the finish. That's racing."

How it unfolded

Starting under sunny skies, the new Continental teams of the peloton, Brisbane Cycling, Australian Cycling Academy, Mobius-BridgeLane and Oliver's Real Food, were quick to show they meant business. A flurry of attacks came from the start but with no moves sticking.

The race-winning move came a little over 10 laps into the 33km race around the 1.1km circuit when Sunderland and Aidan Kampers (Australian Cycling Academy) forced a break. Scott and Samuel Munday joined the move with the quartet working together and gently extending a lead over the peloton. With two riders in front and Welsford in the bunch, Australia Cycling Academy let the likes of Oliver's Real Food Racing take up the chase.

With two laps left, the quartet had 15 seconds over the chasing peloton when Scott and Sunderland rode clear of their breakaway compatriots. Although Scott was the superior sprinter of the duo, he took front position for the slight uphill sprint to the line. Despite Sunderland's best efforts, he was unable to come past, so Scott had time to soak in the occasion and celebrate.

Behind, Welsford stole in for bronze to cap off a dream start to 2018 for Australian Cycling Academy.

Full Results

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#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Cameron Scott (Aus) Australian Cycling Academy0:47:07
2Dylan Sunderland (Aus) Bennelong SwissWellnessRow 1 - Cell 2
3Sam Welsford (Aus) Australian Cycling Academy0:00:04
4Toby Orchard (Aus) Australian Cycling Academy0:00:05
5Lachlan Holliday (Aus) PMRRow 4 - Cell 2
6Bryce Lanigan (Aus) Satalyst Verve RacingRow 5 - Cell 2
7Daniel Luke (Aus)Row 6 - Cell 2
8Harrison Bailey (Aus) GPMRow 7 - Cell 2
9Mathew Ross (Aus)0:00:07
10Aidan Kampers (Aus) Australian Cycling AcademyRow 9 - Cell 2
11Craig Wiggins (Aus) mobius BridgeLaneRow 10 - Cell 2
12Julian Thomson (Aus)0:00:09
13Braden O'Shea (Aus) SASIRow 12 - Cell 2
14Tom Chester (Aus)Row 13 - Cell 2
15Joshua Corcoran (Aus) GPM0:00:12
16Joshua Beikoff (Aus)Row 15 - Cell 2
17Nicholas White (Aus) Oliver's Real Food RacingRow 16 - Cell 2
18Bailey Walters (Aus)Row 17 - Cell 2
19Liam Lawlor (Aus) Van D'am RacingRow 18 - Cell 2
20David Randall (Aus) Van D'am RacingRow 19 - Cell 2
21Daniel Simpson (Aus)Row 20 - Cell 2
22Ethan Berends (Aus) mobius BridgeLaneRow 21 - Cell 2
23Tim Lennon (Aus)Row 22 - Cell 2
24Isaac Buckell (Aus)Row 23 - Cell 2
25Leighton Taylor (Aus)Row 24 - Cell 2
26Michael Potter (Aus) Australian Cycling AcademyRow 25 - Cell 2
27Daniel Newman (Aus) MTRRow 26 - Cell 2
28Bradley Soden (Aus)Row 27 - Cell 2
29Callum Dolby (Aus)Row 28 - Cell 2
30Alexander Holden (Aus)Row 29 - Cell 2
31Jordan Schmidt (Aus)Row 30 - Cell 2
32Nicholas Simpson (Aus) AMR Renault Racing TeamRow 31 - Cell 2
33Thomas Bolton (Aus) Oliver's Real Food RacingRow 32 - Cell 2
34Matthew Gassner (Aus)Row 33 - Cell 2
35Richard Cartwright (Aus)Row 34 - Cell 2
36Lachlan Scott (Aus)Row 35 - Cell 2
37Tom McCracken (Aus)0:00:20
38James Pane (Aus) Drapac EF p/b Cannondale Holistic Development TeamRow 37 - Cell 2
39Patrick Kennedy (Aus)Row 38 - Cell 2
40Frahn Sequoia (Aus)Row 39 - Cell 2
41Liam Edwards (Aus) mobius BridgeLaneRow 40 - Cell 2
42Jonathan Noble (Aus) Brisbane Continental Cycling TeamRow 41 - Cell 2
43Ross Gordon (Aus) InForm TineliRow 42 - Cell 2
44Thomas Hodge (Aus) Balmoral Cycling ClubRow 43 - Cell 2
45Tony Doherty (Aus)Row 44 - Cell 2
46Samuel Munday (Aus) Team Novo Nordisk0:00:23
47Jake Brooker (Aus)Row 46 - Cell 2
48Henry Pennell (Aus)0:00:27
49Calan White (Aus) Brisbane Continental Cycling TeamRow 48 - Cell 2
50Brandon Conway (Aus)Row 49 - Cell 2
51Ashley Mackay (Aus) Australian Cycling Academy0:00:31
52Thomas Allford (Aus) Van D'am RacingRow 51 - Cell 2
53Riley Fleming (Aus) GPM0:00:33
54Riley Terrens (Aus)0:00:35
55Hamish Webber (Aus)Row 54 - Cell 2
56Jordan Louis (Aus) St George Continental Cycling Team0:00:52
57Nathan Aver (Aus)Row 56 - Cell 2
58Xavier Cooper (Aus)0:01:04
59Thomas Green (Aus) GPM0:04:41
DSQRichard Maher (Aus)Row 59 - Cell 2
DNFOliver Hartung (Aus)Row 60 - Cell 2
DNFKaden Groves (Aus) St George Continental Cycling TeamRow 61 - Cell 2
DNFAmarni Drake (Aus) Australian Cycling AcademyRow 62 - Cell 2
DNFNicholas Darling (Aus) AMR Renault Racing TeamRow 63 - Cell 2
DNFFintan Conway (Aus) Oliver's Real Food RacingRow 64 - Cell 2
DNFBenjamin Andrews (Aus) Oliver's Real Food RacingRow 65 - Cell 2
DNFJasper Albrecht (Aus) AMR Renault Racing TeamRow 66 - Cell 2
DNFChris Powell (Aus)Row 67 - Cell 2
DNFCooper Sayers (Aus) SASIRow 68 - Cell 2
DNFFergus Brown (Aus)Row 69 - Cell 2
DNFRay Hunter (Aus)Row 70 - Cell 2
DNFDarcy Whittaker (Aus)Row 71 - Cell 2
DNFJake Van Der Vliet (Aus)Row 72 - Cell 2
DNFMyles Stewart (Aus)Row 73 - Cell 2
DNFTimothy Sellar (Aus)Row 74 - Cell 2
DNFCallum Pearce (Aus)Row 75 - Cell 2
DNFKallum Parlevliet (Aus) InForm TineliRow 76 - Cell 2
DNFLiam Nolan (Aus) mobius BridgeLaneRow 77 - Cell 2
DNFBentley Niquet-Olden (Aus)Row 78 - Cell 2
DNFDylan McKenna (Aus) AMR Renault Racing TeamRow 79 - Cell 2
DNFThomas McFarlane (Aus)Row 80 - Cell 2
DNFJohn Maguire (Aus)Row 81 - Cell 2
DNFJade Maddern (Aus)Row 82 - Cell 2
DNFPeter Livingstone (Aus) mobius BridgeLaneRow 83 - Cell 2
DNFWilliam Hodges (Aus) GPMRow 84 - Cell 2
DNFIan Herman (Aus)Row 85 - Cell 2
DNFAlex Clairs (Aus)Row 86 - Cell 2
DNFMackenzie Hastings (Aus)Row 87 - Cell 2
DNSOliver Smith (Aus) Brisbane Continental Cycling TeamRow 88 - Cell 2

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