Rebecca Wiasak successfully defended her criterium title in the elite/under-23 women's race at the Australian Road National Championships in Ballarat, Victoria, on Friday evening, beating Mitchelton-Scott's Sarah Roy and 20-year-old Ruby Roseman-Gannon in a bunch sprint.
After a relatively gentle start to the 40-lap, 44-kilometre-long race, it was Tibco-SVB's Brodie Chapman who got things moving, opening the floodgates to a flurry of attacks, with Chapman remaining active throughout the race.
Mitchelton-Scott's Amanda Spratt and teammate Roy made regular surges at the front of the race, and they showed themselves to be the strongest team in the race when Roy got across to an attack by Spratt with 14 laps to go, with Peta Mullens (Roxsolt Attaquer) and Matilda Raynolds (Specialized Women's Racing) quick to join them, followed by Raynolds' teammate Ashlee Ankudinoff and defending champion Wiasak.
The break was reeled back in with 11 laps left to race of the 1.1km circuit in central Ballarat, when Chapman again went on the attack, joined by Mullens and Jess Allen (Mitchelton-Scott).
The trio had maintained a small gap with nine laps left, with Spratt bringing the bunch back towards them, causing Allen and Mullens to jump again, and they still had a gap with six laps to go.
Mullens and Spratt continued to stay active as things came back together in the closing laps, but as the bell rang to indicate the final lap, it was all together, and a bunch sprint appeared to be on the cards.
Wiasak led into the final corner, and jumped for the line, holding off the bunch and in fact creating a small gap, winning ahead of Roy and Roseman-Gannon, with Raynolds taking fourth and Trek-Segafredo's Lauratta Hanson rounding out the top five.
"I was a marked rider, but I was thrilled to be able to mark all the moves," Wiasak told SBS after her victory. "It was pretty windy out there, but it worked for me to go early from the last corner and to win the bunch sprint, and take the title for a second year."
Full Results
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rebecca Wiasak (Aus) | 1:11:50 |
| 2 | Sarah Roy (Aus) Mitchelton Scott | 0:00:01 |
| 3 | Ruby Roseman-Gannon (Aus) | Row 2 - Cell 2 |
| 4 | Matilda Raynolds (Aus) Specialized Women's Racing | Row 3 - Cell 2 |
| 5 | Lauretta Hanson (Aus) Trek Segafredo | Row 4 - Cell 2 |
| 6 | Natalie Redmond (Aus) | Row 5 - Cell 2 |
| 7 | Ashlee Ankudinoff (Aus) Specialized Women's Racing | Row 6 - Cell 2 |
| 8 | Tiffany Cromwell (Aus) Canyon//SRAM Racing | Row 7 - Cell 2 |
| 9 | Georgia Whitehouse (Aus) Sydney Uni Staminade | Row 8 - Cell 2 |
| 10 | Emily Watts (Aus) Sydney Uni Staminade | Row 9 - Cell 2 |
| 11 | Grounds Simone (Aus) | Row 10 - Cell 2 |
| 12 | Anya Louw (Aus) TIS Womens Racing Team | Row 11 - Cell 2 |
| 13 | Kirsty Deacon (Aus) KOM Financial Advice Racing Team | Row 12 - Cell 2 |
| 14 | Annelise Jefferies (Aus) KOM Financial Advice Racing Team | Row 13 - Cell 2 |
| 15 | Veronica Lebedev (Aus) Gusto StepFWD KOM powered by Suzuki | Row 14 - Cell 2 |
| 16 | Elizabeth Stannard (Aus) Gusto StepFWD KOM powered by Suzuki | 0:00:06 |
| 17 | Amanda Spratt (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott | 0:00:08 |
| 18 | Brodie Chapman (Aus) Team Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank | Row 17 - Cell 2 |
| 19 | Sarah Gigante (Aus) Roxsolt Attaquer | Row 18 - Cell 2 |
| 20 | Josie Talbot (Aus) Roxsolt Attaquer | Row 19 - Cell 2 |
| 21 | Anna Booth (Aus) Sydney Uni Staminade | 0:00:10 |
| 22 | Jessica Allen (Aus) Mitchelton Scott | 0:00:11 |
| 23 | Taryn Heather (Aus) Specialized Women's Racing | 0:00:15 |
| 24 | Holly Harris (Aus) Specialized Women's Racing | Row 23 - Cell 2 |
| 25 | Emma Viotto (Aus) | 0:00:18 |
| 26 | Peta Mullens (Aus) Roxsolt Attaquer | 0:00:24 |
| DNF | Nicola Macdonald (Aus) Gusto StepFWD KOM powered by Suzuki | Row 26 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Jessica Mundy (Aus) Gusto StepFWD KOM powered by Suzuki | Row 27 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Jemma Eastwood (Aus) Gusto StepFWD KOM powered by Suzuki | Row 28 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Ella Bloor (Aus) Specialized Women's Racing | Row 29 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Briony Mattocks (Aus) Specialized Women's Racing | Row 30 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Jennifer Darmody (Aus) Sydney Uni Staminade | Row 31 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Emma Chilton (Aus) Roxsolt Attaquer | Row 32 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Nicole Frain (Aus) TIS Womens Racing Team | Row 33 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Bridget Bremner (Aus) Vie13KOM | Row 34 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Minda Murray (Aus) Rush Women's Team | Row 35 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Jordyn Hassett (Aus) | Row 36 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Kerry Jonker (Aus) | Row 37 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Maddison Taylor (Aus) | Row 38 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Chloe Heffernan (Aus) | Row 39 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Eloise Vaughan (Aus) | Row 40 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Jessie Sawyer (Aus) | Row 41 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Emily Mascaro (Aus) | Row 42 - Cell 2 |
| DNS | Shannon Malseed (Aus) Team Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank | Row 43 - Cell 2 |
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