MILES Scotson has announced himself as Australian cycling's next big prospect on the road.
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His forte might be track, but Scotson delivered big on Saturday to take out the under-23 road race in 3h:22.57 around Mount Buninyong's 132.6-kilometre circuit.
The South Australian launched a daring solo move from the dying breakaway on the second last climb and used his supreme skills against the clock to coast to a 36-second win over a 12-strong chasing group.
Scotson's SASI team mate Alex Edmondson out sprinted Alistair Donohue for silver, with Ballarat rider Angus Lyons crossing the line in 12th as part of the second group on the road.
In winning, Scotson joins an elite group of riders including Rohan Dennis (2012), Jack Bobridge (2009) and Jonathan Davis (2003) to make it a time-trial, road race double in the under-23s, with the 20-year-old also taking out Thursday's ITT.
"That's kind of what inspired me," he said post-race.
"After the time trial I was pretty excited, I sent Jack Bobridge a message that night congratulating him, and he said for me to rest up, only good guys do the double.
"That got me thinking, I thought maybe I'm not done. I worked pretty hard, I won the time trial, so I refocused."
"It's still, for me, a long shot to win the road race."
Several early crashes on the back part of the course saw the race momentarily neutralised inside the first two laps.
A seven-strong break established a clear lead shortly after a group of 21 was reeled in on the third climb.
A group of four, including Scotson, were allowed to jump off the front of the peloton with more than 90-kilometres of racing left, and built a lead of almost four minutes before Avanti fractured the race in an attempt to put Jack Haig back in contention.
The breakaway reduced to five riders inside the final 40-kilometres, with Scotson and Queenslander Daniel Fitter distancing themselves on the second last lap, before the eventually winner eventually dropped Fitter at the top of the climb.
Pre-race favourite Robert Power put in a huge effort to save the race in the dying stages, but it was to no avail, with Scotson starting the final lap with more than a minute advantage.
Scotson's performance in the break also saw him take home the sprint competition, while Samuel Hill claimed the KOM jersey.
Scotson is planning a return to track for 2015 after being named emergency for Australia's gold medal winning 4000m men's pursuit team during the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
However, he also hinted at ambitions for making the World Time Trial Championships and the 2016 Olympics.
"I'm now motivated for the World Track Championships as well," Scotson said.
"This is great, but I won't be easing up at all.
"I'll (also) target the Rio Olympics, there's heaps of guys going for it.
"Hopefully I just keep making the right progression and we'll see what happens."
Winner: 303 Miles SCOTSON (SA) 3h22:57
2. 305 Alexander EDMONDSON (SA) +36
3. 312 Alistair DONOHOE (VIC) +36
4. 338 Ryan CAVANAGH (QLD) +36
5. 408 Nicholas SCHULTZ (QLD) +36
6. 313 Daniel FITTER (QLD) +36
7. 399 Freddy OVETT (VIC) +36
8. 304 Jack HAIG (VIC) +36
9. 301 Robert POWER (WA) +36
10. 307 Jack BECKINSALE (NSW) +36
The village of Buninyong is all set for a weekend of cycling action with plenty of open cafes and coffee carts doing a good trade in providing warming
At the pointy end of the action a strong breakaway led the field at one pointy with more than three minutes advantage to the large peloton.
With two laps to go the break is now under two minutes
Full provisional result
1. 303 Miles SCOTSON (SA) 3h22:57
2. 305 Alexander EDMONDSON (SA) +36
3. 312 Alistair DONOHOE (VIC) +36
4. 338 Ryan CAVANAGH (QLD) +36
5. 408 Nicholas SCHULTZ (QLD) +36
6. 313 Daniel FITTER (QLD) +36
7. 399 Freddy OVETT (VIC) +36
8. 304 Jack HAIG (VIC) +36
9. 301 Robert POWER (WA) +36
10. 307 Jack BECKINSALE (NSW) +36
11. 343 Mitchell COOPER (VIC) +36
12. 318 Angus LYONS (VIC) +36
13. 311 Jai HINDLEY (WA) +36
14. 401 Luke PARKER (VIC) +1:08
15. 302 Harry CARPENTER (SA) +1:08
16. 319 Jackson MAWBY (WA) +1:08
17. 325 Nicholas BIEN (VIC) +1:08
18. 349 Jay DUTTON (NSW) +1:08
19. 419 Ryan THOMAS (NSW) +1:08
20. 323 Harrison BAILEY (NSW) +1:08
21. 368 Tom KAESLER (SA) +1:08
22. 374 Jake KLAJNBLAT (VIC) +1:08
23. 320 Mathew ROSS (VIC) +1:08
24. 306 Oscar STEVENSON (VIC) +1:08
25. 335 Jeremy CAMERON (VIC) +1:28
26. 332 Ben BRADLEY (TAS) +1:28
27. 417 George TANSLEY (SA) +1:58
28. 315 David EDWARDS (QLD) +3:26
29. 354 Justin GASSNER (SA) +3:26
30. 393 Cyrus MONK (VIC) +3:26
31. 388 Nicholas MATTOCK (WA) +3:26
32. 344 Alistair CRAMERI (VIC) +3:26
33. 416 Dylan SUNDERLAND (NSW) +3:26
34. 411 Matthew SLEE (QLD) +3:26
35. 422 Ayden TOOVEY (NSW) +3:26
36. 317 Chris HAMILTON (VIC) +3:26
37. 433 Sam CROME (VIC) +3:26
38. 356 Nicholas GRAHAM-DAWSON (WA) +6:44
39. 345 Jack CUMMINGS (VIC) +6:44
40. 309 Ben O'CONNOR (WA) +7:12
41. 370 Nicholas KATSONIS (VIC) +7:42
42. 363 Samuel HILL (NSW) +8:58
377 Jacob LANGHAM (TAS) +9:16
371 Mark KELLY (VIC) +9:16
394 Drew MOREY (VIC) +9:16
429 Harrison WILES (NSW) +9:16
400 James PANE (VIC) +9:16
346 James CUMMINGS (VIC) +9:16
386 Oliver MARTIN (TAS) +9:16
367 Zane HUNTER (VIC) +9:16
dnf 308 Shaun O'CALLAGHAN (VIC)
dnf 310 Callum SCOTSON (SA)
dnf 316 Lachlan GLASSPOOL (SA)
dnf 322 Taylor ANSTEE (VIC)
dnf 324 Declan BAKER (NSW)
dnf 327 Anthony BOGIATZIS (ACT)
dnf 328 Nathan BOOTH (ACT)
dnf 329 Stefan BOS (VIC)
dnf 330 Scott BOWDEN (TAS)
dnf 331 Aidan BOWE (VIC)
dnf 334 Camden BUSH (VIC)
dnf 336 Ben CARMAN (QLD)
dnf 337 Harrison CARTER (NSW)
dnf 340 Tom CHAPMAN (SA)
dnf 341 Alexander CLEMENTS (TAS)
dnf 342 Ben COMFORT (ACT)
dnf 350 Paul EDELSTEIN (NSW)
dnf 351 Gerald EVANS (TAS)
dnf 352 Jesse EWART (NSW)
dnf 353 David FUMPSON (SA)
dnf 355 Scott GIGANTE (VIC)
dnf 357 Benjamin GREEN (NSW)
dnf 359 Alex GRUNKE (QLD)
dnf 360 Chris HARPER (SA)
dnf 362 Joseph HIGGINSON (SA)
dnf 364 Zander HITCHCOCK (VIC)
dnf 365 Lachlan HOLLIDAY (VIC)
dnf 372 Ryan KENNEDY (SA)
dnf 373 Jesse KERRISON (QLD)
dnf 375 Samuel LANE (VIC)
dnf 376 Matthew LANE (VIC)
dnf 378 Jack LAVIS (ACT)
dnf 379 Jason LEA (VIC)
dnf 380 Dylan LINDSEY (VIC)
dnf 381 Adam LLOYD (NSW)
dnf 382 Wade LONGWORTH (WA)
dnf 383 Jason LOWNDES (VIC)
dnf 384 Dave MANTON (NSW)
dnf 385 Ben MARSHALL (ACT)
dnf 387 Leslie MASTERS (QLD)
dnf 389 Robert MCCARTHY (SA)
dnf 391 Charly MCMILLAN (VIC)
dnf 395 Conor MURTAGH (VIC)
dnf 396 Harrison MUSGRAVE (TAS)
dnf 397 Dylan NEWBERY (QLD)
dnf 402 Alexander PORTER (SA)
dnf 403 Aden REYNOLDS (NSW)
dnf 404 Michael RICE (ACT)
dnf 405 Reece ROBINSON (NSW)
dnf 406 Todd SATCHELL (VIC)
dnf 407 Daniel SCHEINER (NSW)
dnf 409 Timothy SELLAR (WA)
dnf 410 Patrick SHARPE (NSW)
dnf 412 Jordan STANNUS (VIC)
dnf 413 Jonathan STEPHENS (SA)
dnf 414 Michael STRINGER (VIC)
dnf 415 Jake STUART (NSW)
dnf 418 Riley TERRENS (VIC)
