A rider who cut his teeth in cycling in Ballarat has secured his second road national title in the city.
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Graeme Frislie completed back-to-back wins in the Fed Uni AusCycling Road National Championships under-23 men's criterium in Sturt Street on Friday.
The 21-year-old was dominant, with his CCACHE x PAR KP teammates providing outstanding support to ensure he found the lead when it counted in the latter stages of the last of 30 laps of the 1.1km circuit.
Bendigo's Blake Agnoletto was second ahead of Queenslander Declan Trezise in third.
Frislie went into the championship as the favourite after some big performances in the Bay Crits at Geelong early in the week.
He finished second in the series on a countback to Brenton Jones.
Frislie grew up in Bacchus Marsh and started cycling with the Ballarat Sebastopol club.
Frislie spent most of the race midfield, always able to shadow a teammate as the "Green Machine" effectively controlled the race without having riders on the front.
Brady Gilmore and Angus Miller attacked early to create a two-man breakaway, but were never able to completely shake off the bunch.
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They were closed down mid-race, with Frislie lurking in the top 12 waiting for an opportunity to make his move.
Dylan Hopkins went solo off the front inside the last two laps, but was never going to stay away.
SOUTH Australian and former triathlete Amber Pate stepped out of her comfort zone to take out the elite women's criterium - her first road national cycling title.
The 27-year-old is relatively new to professional cycling ranks, having been the 2017, 2018 and 2019 SA female triathlete of the year.
She first rode at the championships in 2020, but until Friday had only contested the road race and time trial, in which she finished second last year.
The championship victory comes at a great time in her career, with Pate having only midway through last year secured a contract with the Spain-based Australian team Jayco-AlUla to contest the World Tour.
Defending champion Ruby Roseman-Gannon could do no better than sixth.
UNDER-19 WOMEN
- 1 Mackenzie Coupland (WA) 25:28
- 2 Felicity Wilson-Taffenden (Tasmania) same time
- 3 Keira Will (NSW) st
- Sprint classification: Mackenzie Coupland
UNDER-19 MEN
- Will Holmes (SA) 31:06
- Jamie Coles (Victoria) same time
- Ben Anderson (Dubbo) st
- Sprint classification: Jamie Coles
UNDER-23 MEN
- Graeme Frislie (Victoria) 46:06
- Blake Agnoletto (Victoria) same time
- Declan Trezise (Queensland) st
- Sprint classification: Brady Gilmore (Queensland)
UNDER-23 WOMEN
- Lucinda Stewart (Victoria) 59:25
- Keely Bennett (Victoria) same time
- Ella Sibley (SA) st
ELITE WOMEN
- Amber Pate (SA/NT) 59:25
- Alexandra Manly (WA) same time
- Matilda Field (SA) st
- Chloe Hosking st
- Lucinda Stewart st
- Ruby Roseman-Gannon st
- Keely Bennett st
- Lauretta Hanson st
- Ella Sibley st
- Matilda Raynolds st
- Sprint: Lucie Fityus (NSW)
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