Sam Welsford won the elite men’s criterium at the AusCycling Road National Championships on Friday, going out early in the sprint to claim victory in front of the elated Perth crowds.
The home-town rider, who elicited cheers from those lining the circuit whenever he made a move, held off the charge of two riders with plenty at stake. In second it was Cameron Scott, who was vigorously supported by his new team CCACHE x Bodywrap after the former Bahrain Victorious rider found himself without a WorldTour contract this year. Blake Quick (Roojai Insurance), who up until January 1 was racing in Jayco-AlUla colours, was third.
“It was a super hard race, that was super fast,” Welsford said in an interview with broadcaster SBS soon after celebrating the win on the line. “From lap one it was just on and hats off to the CCACHE boys, they made it really hard for me today.
"They had the numbers and I knew it was going to be hard to mark all the moves but there was just an electric atmosphere out there and I loved every minute of that.”
The men’s criterium was the last race of the day, unfolding on a fast but technical 1.2km course with a 60 minute and two lap test to decide who would be wearing the jersey of an Australian national time trial criterium in 2025.
The ever attacking Tali Lane Welsh (CCACHE x Bodywrap) made the most of the six corners, wide boulevards and narrow side streets in the early stages of the race, with the rider from Bendigo jumping close to the start to deliver a long early solo attack, holding out front till about 22 minutes in.
Once he was caught, there were a number of other surges off, with Welsford and Liam Walsh (CCACHE x Bodywrap) among the many riders taking their chances as they came out of a leading bunch that now only numbered around 15. None, however stayed away too long.
Coming into the final laps there was a late flier from Luke Durbridge (Jayco-AlUla) set, firing up the crowd as he set off at around the 47 minute mark as they enjoyed every chance they got to cheer on the Western Australian riders on home roads. It was a short-lived move though, with little leeway being given to the skilled time trialist as the sprinters weren’t going to let their chance evaporate.
Around a dozen riders that now charged toward the line for the final time, Welsford going early coming through the final corner already in front and adeptly holding off his rivals to give the crowd a home town winner to celebrate as they welcomed the National Championships to Western Australia.
The criterium title was the second on offer for the elite men at the 2025 Australian Championships. Luke Plapp (Jayco-AlUla) swept up the first on Thursday, winning the race against the clock ahead of Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates). The final prize up for grabs is the men’s road race title, a 177km race on Sunday afternoon which will loop through Kings Park 13 times.
When asked if the road race could be an opportunity for the sprinters this year by reporters in Perth, Welsford said: “It’s always going to be harder, Jayco have a lot of numbers out there and they are obviously super strong guys, you can see the results from the TT [four of the top five riders in that event were from Jayco-AlUla], so we will have to see.
"It depends how the race is ridden but it's going to be different on this course because no one has done it before and no one knows – is it easy to bring a break back? Can a break go? It's going to be interesting."
Results powered by FirstCycling
