Kimberley Wells takes decisive victory to clinch criterium title at Australian Road Nationals

Kimberley Wells (ACTAS) unleashed her powerful sprint to clinch the criterium title at the Mars Cycling Australia Road National Championships ahead of Peta Mullens (Seight Custom) and Lauren Kitchen (Hitec Products). It is the second time Wells has pulled on the green and gold jersey following the criterium championships, and the fourth time she’s climbed onto the top stop of the podium in the Australian summer of racing.

“That picture crossing the line tells a thousand words. It’s exactly how I felt – elated, hurting, excited, and I felt so pumped because I knew there was daylight behind me,” said Wells. “I’ve won here before. I’m a heavily marked rider. I’m a really good sprinter on the road and I won the trifecta of crits coming into the summer so every single person in that peloton did not want me there at the end.”

A sluggish start to the elite women’s event gave way to edge-of-the-seat excitement with relentless attacks and constant counter-moves. While Wells stayed hidden for the majority of the one hour contest, Mullens played the animator. She made the first significant move after 10 laps of the 30 lap race. Chloe Hosking (Wiggle Honda) was the only rider willing and able to bridge across to the early move. The Mitchelton Bay Cycling Classic overall series winner provided company for Mullens in the breakaway but refused to share the workload.

The peloton wisely elected not to allow the duo a long leash. Three laps later, Hosking fell off the pace and was swallowed up by a disorganised bunch. Mullens continued her effort alone, gaining a 17 second advantage over the peloton at the mid-point of the race. When Amanda Spratt (Orica-AIS) and Jessie MacLean (ACTAS) attempted to bridge across to Mullens, the peloton reacted. The race was back together one lap later.

“I had to earn it,” said Wells. “Everyone was hurting out there. There were a lot of breaks that were up the road with some really great riders in there. I found it hard being patient about having them 10, 15, 20 seconds up the road but ultimately the bunch was hungry enough to bring them all back.”

Mullens would get into another significant move with nine laps left. Lizzie Williams (Orica-AIS), Carlee Taylor (Lotto Sundal), Jessica Munday (SASI) and Kendelle Hodges (Jayco Apollo AIS) cooperated with Mullens’ efforts to keep the field at bay. A counter-attack by Kitchen sparked a response from the bunch. Five laps from the finish, Mullens and company were back in the reduced peloton as Gracie Elvin (Orica-AIS) put in a late race dig.

“Peta Mullens, Gracie Elvin, Lauren Kitchen, Chloe Hosking as a sprinter, Ruth Corset in a breakaway, Lizzie Williams – they are all riders who can win this crit,” said Wells. “I was really worried anytime they got up the road.”

Mullens put in one final attack with three laps remaining, but her effort provide futile. Taylor held onto a slim advantage as the bell rang and came around the final corner just ahead of the field. Into the finishing stretch, Wells was poorly positioned yet she managed to overtake all her challengers ahead of the line. She handily took the sprint by two bike lengths and yelled out in celebration of her decisive victory as she crossed the finish line.

“This time last summer I followed the race on Twitter,” said Wells. “I had pneumonia, so it was really disappointing and devastating not to be able to try and defend my 2013 criterium title.”

“I got myself back going and got back to Europe and the day after Flanders, I tore my piriformis muscle, which put me out for the entire European season,” added Wells. “I couldn’t exercise for four months, and I was really crushed by that double blow, so this is exactly what I needed to solidify myself back in the peloton.”

The first U23 rider across the line was Shannon Malseed (Holden Women’s Cycling Team) in sixth. She claimed victory ahead of Rebecca Mackey (WA) and Tayla Evans (Bicycle Superstore).

Race results:

• Race time: 52:14
• Average speed of the winner: 37.9 km/h
• Number of starters: 39
• Riders abandoning the race: 20

Intermediate Sprints

Lap 10 Sprint

Lap 20 Sprint

Sprint Classification

Final Result