Caleb Ewan (Orica-Scott) lived up to his role as favourite and won the Australian national criterium championship with a powerful sprint finish in Ballarat. It was Orica-Scott's second win of the night after Jessica Allen soloed to victory in the women's race earlier in the night.
A strong break sparked by Nathan Earle almost stayed away but a chase by the Isowhey Sports Swisswellness team saw the race come back together with a lap to go.
Scott Sunderland (Isowhey Sports Swisswellness) finished second ahead of Brenton Jones (JLT Condor).
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"Obviously it is pretty hard with the expectation coming in it,” said Ewan who won the final day ‘Bay Crits' race on Tuesday after suffering a crash on the opening day of the criterium series. "I think I came in here as the favourite, pretty close favourite because the guys have been sprinting very well so it was always going to be hard but like I said before it was always going to be hard coming in with only two guys to help me but they were probably the two strongest guys in the race fortunately for me. They covered everything perfectly and all I had to do was sit there and relax.”
Ewan's teammate Mitch Docker suffered several mechanicals during the race but once he took a lap out, was free to rejoin the action. Along with Damien Howson, Docker played a key role in bringing back the late breakaway on the final lap to set up the 22-year-old for victory.
"I wasn't exactly where I hoped I would be, I got boxed off the wheel in the last corner and I started my sprint as soon as I came out of that corner and had to get my way through the bunch and luckily I got out of the end and could beat Scott,” he said. For him coming here with such a strong team, he hasn't done many races with a top team like that but I knew he would be hard to beat if he was in a good position,” he added of Sunderland. “I am going to back myself in a race like this, especially with an uphill finish. I feel pretty confidence against a bigger guy like that when we are racing uphill.”
— Cycling Australia (@CyclingAus) January 4, 2017
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