Cam Scott claims U23 criterium gold

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.

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