Storm coming in before the road races started

Day 1 –  Australian Junior Individual Road Time Trial Championships

U15 athlete, Emma Bilston finished 4th in the 8km time trial, just 4sec behind 3rd place, Lauren Perry (TAS) and 17sec behind the winner, Molly Booker.  Emma’s time was 12min29sec, averaging 38.43km/hr.

U17 rider Emily Wordie-Thompson finished 23rd in the 10km ITT in a time of 16min43sec.  The winning ride of Allison Rice (Canberra) was 14min49sec.  Emily’s team mate, Lauretta Hanson had a great time trial, finishing in 5th place.  Given Lauretta had been in bed with gastro problems two days before this race, made this result even more impressive.

In the U17 boys division, Tom Hamilton (VIC) won in a time of 18min54sec.  Liam White (Ballarat) finished the course in 20min33sec, finishing 23rd.

Bryce Morey finished 7sec behind Liam in 28th position, while Michael Hale came in 10sec behind Bryce in a time of 20min50sec.  Michael averaged 43.17km/hr on the 15km course, finishing in 33rd place.

U17 Victorians won bronze in the criterium

Clement crashed badly in the road race but was still smiling afterwards

 Day 2 – Australian Junior Road Race Championships

Conditions were horrendous as the riders warmed up under any shelter they could find.  Winds were blowing hard at 40-60km/hr and storms dumped rain all day.  Temperatures were only 4-6C which made the racing tough going.

The U15 race started fast with riders being shelled in the first 1km.  The course was hilly and windy so holding a wheel into the tough crosswinds was the challenge for all riders.  Emma Bilston got into the winning break of 5 riders, after the 10km turn around point.  The group consisted of two Tassie riders, two NSW girls and Emma.  Both NSW girls sat on and never did a turn while the other 3 contributed equally to ensure the break stayed away.  Macey Stewart (TAS) attacked with 3km to go and Emma was unable to respond.  Emma did the majority of the chasing, never giving up on trying to catch Macey.  Driving the break hard on the front, really cost her in the sprint where she finished 3rd in the chasing group, giving her 4th place overall.

The U17 girls road race was held before the U15’s raced and also faced tough windy conditions.  Emily Wordie-Thompson along with two other Victorians were in the front group, when a touch of wheels in the second lap, caused Emily to crash.  Luckily she slid across the road, preventing any broken bones but caused substantial road rash.  She needed a wheel change as well as another team car service to fix a brake and gear changing problem.  Her race was over and she rode back in a small group, finishing in 25th place.  Emily’s team mate, Tony Abbisogni rode strongly and found herself in the winning break of 5 which stayed away until the finish.  In the final 5km, an attack by Emily Roper caused the group to split with Emily going on to win from Allison Rice.   Tony sprinted well to finish 4th behind Georgia Baker.

In the U17 boys, a crash occurred almost in the same location as the girls, with over 20 riders becoming asphalt victims.  Unfortunately, Clement Boydell crashed heavily and was unable to continue racing.  He was sent to hospital with a bad cut to his thumb but luckily it didn’t need stitching.  His brother Munro, headed off road to avoid the crash and as a result, ended up in a group, behind the winning break.  Clearly concerned and shaken by his brother’s crash, he opted to race conservatively and saved his legs for the criterium.

Storms dumped rain and wind all day

Helen giving Michael Hale last minute instructions

Day 3  – Australian Junior Criterium Championships

The rain held off but the winds were even stronger than yesterday’s road race conditions.  The circuit was a twisty 800m loop with nasty cross winds in the finishing straight.  Being patient and not going too early was something our Victorian team had practiced earlier in the week, as the coaching staff predicted tough windy conditions for the criterium.

U15 rider Emma Bilston and fellow team mates Courtney Field, Zoe Nicholson and Kate Boyd all rode aggressively in the criterium.  The winds made it impossible for any break to stick, although most laps someone tried their luck at getting away from the peleton.  Learning from her eagerness to do too much work in yesterdays road race, Emma followed wheels until 200m to go.  She sprinted well to finish with a bronze medal. 

A successful Nationals for Emma - ITT 4th, Road race 4th and criterium 3rd

Emma Bilston – in the U15 National Criterium Championships

 The U17 girls race was a fast aggressive race.  Emily bravely warmed up with her bandaged road rash and was in quite a lot of pain.  She worked hard for the team in the opening laps before withdrawing from the race.  Maddy Cardillo (VIC) rode well for the team and stayed with the front bunch until about 10mins to go.  Lauretta Hanson (VIC) spent a lot of time in time trial mode on the front.  Her continued efforts to keep driving the pace caused the group to dwindle down to 10 riders.  She set a fast tempo in the final lap, setting up Tony Abisogni for a 3rd place finish.  Lauretta earned herself a top 10 finish.  Well done Tony to get a bronze medal due to a great team effort by the Victorian girls.

Emma Bilston - sprint finish in the criterium

Tough conditions in the road race

The U17 boys had criterium heats in the morning with the top 20 progressing to the A final in the afternoon and the remainder, racing in the B final.  Both Munro and Clement Boydell, as well as Michael Hale progressed through to the A final.  Poor positioning in the crosswinds caused Bryce Morey and Liam White to be gapped off in the heat, and therefore missing a top 20 finish.

The A final was raced at a furious pace.  Clement was down on power after his crash in the road race and withdraw at the half way point.  Michael and Munro raced well in the tough and windy conditions.  They were both in a chase group behind the front group of 10 riders which included 4 Victorian team riders.  Tom Hamilton eventually broke clear with another rider and took his second win of the Championships, whilst Jack Cummins (VIC) won the sprint for 3rd, ahead of team mate, Evan Hull (VIC).

Liam White learnt the importance of positioning and didn’t make the same mistake twice.  He never left the top 5 throughout the B criterium final.  Liam sprinted well, finishing 2nd behind Nathan Hinkley (Goerge Town CC).  Bryce showed his time trial legs were working well.  After getting gapped off the front group by about 400m, he managed to time trial back to them and finished in 9th place.

Emma was focused before the criterium started