Lightning strikes in Ballarat’s city centre

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She may come from a middle-distance track running background, but Carly Light put in a long-distance solo breakaway to claim the Elite women’s Australian Criterium Champion jersey. Light broke away from the peloton in a solo move just 13 laps into the 30 lap event and never looked like being challenged.

“I was just sort of testing my legs, seeing if I could have a crack here,” said Light. “I couldn’t believe it when I got a gap and thought I’ve got to keep going. With 10 laps to go I was thinking ‘what am I doing out here’, but I just put my head down and went for it.”

With no organised effort to chase down Light from the peloton, it was left to sprint for the minor placings. Rochelle Gilmore (Honda Dream Team) was forced to just twice in the long up-hill drag, but she couldn’t hold off younger rivals Chloe Hosking (Columbia-HTC) and Megan Dunn (NSWIS).

Hosking’s second place won her the Under 23 title while Dunn’s third overall put her in second in the younger division. There was some consolation for the Honda Dream Team with Peta Mullens taking third in the Under 23 division.

Amanda Spratt and Peta Mullens broke away early in the race. While their move quickly gained momentum, it was brought undone as Kendelle Hodges and Lauren Kitchen chased and the peloton followed.

Belinda Goss launched an explosive attack on the uphill finishing straight, but the move was shut down as was Shara Gillow’s effort a lap later. Light attacked, but a crash two hundred metres up the finishing straight, directly in front of the Shimano service area, put Hosking, Gilmore and Josephine Tomic on the ground.

The crash came at an opportune moment for Light, who added to her lead unaware of the troubles behind. Most of the riders rejoined the peloton a lap later, however coming back two laps later put Tomic in violation of the rules and she was soon removed from the race.

Attacks came from Helen Kelly, Nicole Whitburn and Ashlee Ankudinoff over the following laps, but the peloton seemed more interested in chasing down the attackers and not the leader. A flurry of break attempts in the peloton reduced Light’s gap at one point, however when the attacks died down the leader’s margin continued, allowing her to take a solo victory.

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