Road race rookie Miles Scotson wins national championship title

MILES Scotson’s first professional road race has won him a national championship title on a drama-packed day in Buninyong.

MILES Scotson’s first professional road race has won him a national championship title on a drama-packed day in Buninyong.

The young South Australian, who only six weeks ago signed with BMC, rode with wisdom beyond his years to salute at the end of a volatile and hectic 18-lap, 183.6km battle.

In a typical war of attrition that saw 83 of the 127 starters abandon in hot conditions, Scotson surged spectacularly from the rear of a 14-man group with 1.5km to go to claim the shock victory.

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The 22-year-old, who focused largely on the track last year, went into the race with no BMC teammates and no expectations.

“I didn’t really have a tactic and I wasn’t sure if I was actually going to get around 18 laps today,” Scotson said.

“But I waited behind on that last lap and whacked them and wound the gear out and tried to tuck low on that decent and when I got to the bottom of that hill ... I was like ‘wow, it’s really going to happen’.

Miles Scotson crosses the line in first place. Picture: Wayne Ludbey

“It was just raw emotion at the end, the line was right there and it was a great feeling and why I love cycling, to be able to put the arms up.”

A nine-man breakaway patrolled by Luke Durbridge (Orica-Scott) formed half way into the race and held a lead of around 3 minutes for the next 70km. But with 28km to go and their advantage shrinking, West Australian Cameron Meyer attacked up the Mount Buninyong climb while Victorian Brendan Canty (Cannondale-Drapac) launched from the closing peloton behind.

The result was a race that exploded into life as riders took turns chancing their arms with Durbridge seemingly closing down each move. But Victorian Mark O’Brien’s (IsoWhey Sports Swisswellness) acceleration up the same climb on the second-last lap brought the field together before Canty attacked again in a solo bid for the line with 18km to go.

But the rapidly-emerging climber suffered every cyclists worst nightmare when he celebrated a lap early thinking he’d won the race.

“That feeling of thinking you might stay away is super exciting and then it’s like ‘you’ve got another lap to go’. The high and the low of that, I can’t really articulate that right now,” Canty said.

“It’s a long, hot day and with a couple of laps to go you get a bit excited and things get out of hand. But there’s nothing to be ashamed of and I’m really proud of the way I rode today.”

Miles Scotson celebrates after the race. Picture: Wayne Ludbey

Victorian veteran Simon Gerrans (Orica-Scott) was second behind Scotson’s surprise surge, while the ACT’s Nathan Haas (Team Dimension Data) rounded out the podium.

Haas praised Scotson’s “perfect moment” attack on a course that “gives no gifts and takes no prisoners”.

“What won today was cycling. That was the coolest race I’ve been involved in for so long,” Haas said.

“It was down to the wire, there were all these crazy tactics going on, teams pushing it and then stopping, guys dropping off the front and I didn’t know it was going to come together until the very end.”

It was a big national championships for the Scotson family. Miles’ win came after younger brother Callum, who is on BMC’s development team, won Thursday’s under-23 time trial title.

Originally published as Road race rookie Miles Scotson wins national championship title