Queensland’s top domestic sprinter, Peter Thompson (Tinelli Racing), demonstrated why he has been snapped up by Drapac Pro Cycling Team, with a resounding win in today’s Elite Division of the inaugural Vault Criterium staged at Nundah, just north of Brisbane. The softly spoken rider known as "PT" in Cycling circles unleashed his trademark gallop on his way to $4000 prize money and a short break before he heads south to contest some invitational races.
The Vault Criterium, brainchild of race promoter Adrian Booth and Brad Gunn of Boomtime Cycle Systems, attracted over 180 riders across four divisions, and with plenty of sponsorship dollars on offer from BoomTime and Vault Accountants, the racing was fast, tough and entertaining with DJ's and talented Race Commentator, Mr Luke Lucas (VOC).
In Division One, an unprecedented 11 primes kept the race intensity at full throttle, with riders like Tim Dalgliesh (Team MainLine), being extremely aggressive all day, Dane Macky (Tinelli) and Jessie Kerrison (QAS) providing plenty of stick across the 70 minute + 3 lap race. Continental rider, Jack Anderson (Endura Racing), was extremely busy early, and Malcolm Rudolph (Jayco-AIS) and Nicholas Schultz (QAS) were prominent throughout the race, with Rudolph picking up the Giant Bicycles sprint Prime courtesy of Brent McCaig.
QAS rider, Dave Edwards, is $1000 richer this evening after picking up the award for the Most Aggressive Rider following on from the form which delivered him a Bronze Medal in the recent UCI World Titles in Copenhagen.
The current Australian Criterium Champion, Jonathan Cantwell, and Rabobank star, Michael Mathews added extra class to today’s top Division, but neither were able to latch onto the winning break late into the race.
A large crowd cheered the riders over the line, with Tineli Racing’s Peter Thompson just able to hold off Nick Schultz (QAS) and Timothy Dalgliesh (MainLine).
“The pace was on today, with eleven $200 primes it was more like a Points Race than a criterium, so we had to keep on our toes especially with a lot of the Junior QAS guys out in force. They certainly gave us a run for our money.”
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
The race organisation upped the intensity throughout the event placing 3 primes in a row twice through the event causing the eventual split.
“I managed to slip away in the winning break which was good, and with about 20 minutes to go there would have been about ten of us, and that came down to five in the charge home, and luckily I had just enough energy to beat Nick Schultz."
“I’d just come off a bit of a break so I wasn’t sure how the legs would go. Obviously I had a bit of form left over from the season to get the win, but now I need to concentrate on my preparation for next year. This means plenty of base k’s and topping it all off with some interval training.”
Peter nows heads off to Tasmania at the end of the month to ride in the Launceston Criterium, and then his focus will be on the Nationals in January.
Other major winners on the day were Adam Simonelli (Division 2), Scott Matheson (Division 3) and John Duel in Division Four.
