Hepburn claims U23 title

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Michael Hepburn (Jayco-Skins) claimed the Under-23 Australian Road Championship after a drag race down the home straight with teammate Malcolm Rudolph (Jayco-Skins). The Jayco-Skins squad dominated the podium with Michael Matthews lifting a wheel off the ground as he took third place in a fierce sprint against Joseph Lewis (Drapac-Porsche).

Hepburn hadn’t contested a road race in the five months prior to today’s race, but knew he entered the event in strong condition. “I knew the form was pretty good,” said Hepburn. “My focus has been on the track but the last month has been just purely road training, so I knew the form was there. I didn’t really expect this; I’m not shocked, but I am surprised.”

Hepburn’s focus will return to the track for a few more months, but he’s looking forward to wearing the jersey during his stint on the road in Italy later this year. “I just thought about that before actually, it’s going to be pretty special wearing the Australian jersey in Under-23 races in Italy,” he said.

Rudolph, just 20 years of age, said the team’s dominate display helped ease the pain of losing Thursday’s criterium title. The Jayco-Skins team, formerly SouthAustralia.com-AIS, also took the top three positions in the Under 23 men’s time trial on Wednesday.

“It was good to get me and Mick up the road at the end, and as we were in control, we just had to ride to the finish and sort it out between us,” said Rudolph. “It was a dominant display by us today which is what we wanted to do after being beaten in Thursday’s criterium. We were very disappointed in that so it’s great to come out today on top."

The Trek-Livestrong team started a tactical race when Ben King followed a solo attack by Matthew Benson. King tore away with Benson, then dropped the rider as he took a reasonable solo lead aimed at forcing the rival teams to work while teammate Timothy Roe sat in on the moves.

While Roe was present in the break that formed with seven laps remaining, the numbers Jayco-Skins and Drapac-Porsche had present made it impossible for the two-man Trek-Livestrong duo to prevail. The break included riders like Nathan Haas, Nick Aitken, Ben Grenda, Benson, Sam Davis, Matthew Clarke, Aaron Donnelly, Hepburn, Richard Lang, Angus Morton, Thomas Palmer and Blair Windsor.

The 17 chasers were joined by a second group, blowing out the chase to 40 riders. That was quickly shattered however when Jayco-Skins place seven riders at the front, tailed by five Drapac-Porsche riders – their combined horsepower tearing the chase group apart.

King was caught as Under 23 time trial winner Rohan Dennis ripped away from the field, putting the hurt on Jayco-Skins’ rivals. Dennis’ efforts narrowed the front selection to 10 as he was caught, setting up a perfect platform for a counter-attack by his teammates.

Hepburn and Rudolph rose from the carnage to play out the final stages of the last lap by themselves. Behind Matthews had a bigger battle on his hands, the Australian Capital Territory rider forced to sprint against Lewis from a bunch of five riders, including Roe.

Results

Michael Hepburn (Jayco-Skins) claimed the Under 23 Australian Road Championship after a drag race down the home straight with team-mate Malcolm Rudolph (Jayco-Skins). The Jayco-Skins squad dominated the podium with Michael Matthews lifting a wheel off the ground as he took third place in a sprint against Joseph Lewis (Drapac-Porsche).

Hepburn hadn’t contested a road race in the five months prior to today’s race, but knew he entered the event in strong form. “I knew the form was pretty good,” said Hepburn. “My focus has been on the track but the last month has been just purely road training, so I knew the form was there. I didn’t really expect this; I’m not shocked, but I am surprised.”

Hepburn’s focus will return to the track for a few more months, but he’s looking forward to wearing the jersey during his stint on the road in Italy later this year. “I just thought about that before actually, it’s going to be pretty special wearing the Australian jersey in Under 23 races in Italy,” he said.

Rudolph, just 20 years of age, said the team’s dominate display helped ease the pain of losing Thursday’s criterium title. The Jayco-Skins team, formerly SouthAustralia.com-AIS, also took the top three positions in the Under 23 men’s time trial on Wednesday.

“It was good to get me and Mick up the road at the end, and as we were in control, we just had to ride to the finish and sort it out between us,” said Rudolph. “It was a dominant display by us today which is what we wanted to do after being beaten in Thursday’s criterium. We were very disappointed in that so it’s great to come out today on top."

The Trek-Livestrong team started a tactical race when Ben King followed a solo attack by Matthew Benson. King tore away with Benson, then dropped the rider as he took a reasonable solo lead aimed at forcing the rival teams to work while team-mate Timothy Roe sat in on the moves.

While Roe was present in the break that formed with seven laps remaining, the numbers Jayco-Skins and Drapac-Porsche had present made it impossible for the two-man Trek-Livestrong duo to prevail. The break included riders like Nathan Haas, Nick Aitken, Ben Grenda, Benson, Sam Davis, Matthew Clarke, Aaron Donnelly, Hepburn, Richard Lang, Angus Morton, Thomas Palmer and Blair Windsor.

The 17 chasers were joined by a second group, blowing out the chase to 40 riders. That was quickly shattered however when Jayco-Skins place seven riders at the front, tailed by five Drapac-Porsche riders – their combined horsepower tearing the chase group apart.

King was caught as Under 23 time trial winner Rohan Dennis ripped away from the field, putting the hurt on Jayco-Skins’ rivals. Dennis’ efforts narrowed the front selection to 10 as he was caught, setting up a perfect platform for a counter-attack by his team-mates.

Hepburn and Rudolph rose from the carnage to play out the final stages of the last lap by themselves. Behind Matthews had a bigger battle on his hands, the Australian Capital Territory rider forced to sprint against Lewis from a bunch of five riders, including Roe.