Jarrad Drizners takes under-23 men's road race title at Australian Road Championships

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New Hagens Berman Axeon signing Jarrad Drizners won the under-23 road race at the 2020 Australian Road Championships in Buninyong, Victoria, on Saturday afternoon, first catching lone breakaway rider Elliot Schultz (Memil-CCN Pro Cycling) on the final lap, and then holding off Sebastian Berwick (St George Continental Cycling Team) to take the title, with Alastair Christie-Johnston (Team BridgeLane) finishing third.

In 2019, Drizners won the U23 criterium title ahead of Kelland O'Brien – who in turn took the 2020 U23 crit title on Friday. Drizners – who has previously split his time between the road and the track – went on to take a stage and the overall victory at the Sam Miranda Tour of King Valley in October, ahead of the November announcement that he'd signed with US Pro Continental team Hagens Berman Axeon for this season.

"There were a lot of team tactics today, so, for me being an individual, it made it a bit tricky," Drizners explained. "I saw the race forming and I could follow. But we – Berwick and I – rode away to the finish and were committed.

"I knew we weren't going to get caught, so it was a case of being patient with him, as I knew I had the better sprint," he said.

"I've been working really hard for this race, and I'm looking forward to taking this jersey overseas this year," Drizners said of his new white, green and gold national champion's garment. "I might sleep in this tonight – you never know."

How it unfolded

In Buninyong on Saturday, the fast-finishing Drizners left it late, but proved to have timed his run to perfection in the end, winning the Australian road title by three seconds from Berwick, while Christie-Johnston trailed home another 11 seconds down – again, alone, just like the rest of the top-10 finishers, after the race developed into one with a frenetic pace in the closing laps.

Also finishing in the top 10 – in eighth spot, 2:07 down on Drizners – was the day's other stand-out rider. Memil-CCN Pro Cycling's Elliot Schultz had spent virtually the entirety of the 139.2km road race at the head of affairs, first as part of an early eight-man move, then as part of a two-man move with Calan White, having bridged up to the lone-attacking Balmoral Cycling Club rider, and finally as a solo breakaway rider, leading into the final lap as the favourites sought to close him down.

Only an elite chasing group was capable of catching Schultz – made up of Drizners, Berwick, Christie-Johnston, this week's U23 time trial winner Lucas Plapp and his two InForm TM Insight Make teammates Rudy Porter and Carter Turnball, and Christie-Johnston's Team BridgeLane's Tyler Lindorff, with the latter having valiantly fought back from a crash earlier in the day to still be competitive by the end.

The day, though, belonged to Drizners and Schultz, with honourable mentions for Lindorff and White – who also just made it into the top 10 – and for podium finishers Berwick and Christie-Johnston.