Mackellar storms to the summit to claim first national title

Alistair Mackellar could be a star on the rise in Australian cycling after destroying the field to win the under-23 men’s road race at the Road Nationals in Ballarat. Here is how he did it.

A superhuman effort in the last two laps has led Sunshine Coast’s Alistair Mackellar to the biggest win of his career so far at the Road Nationals in Ballarat.

The Israel Cycling Academy rider won the under-23 road race around the roads of Buninyong, near Ballarat, after timing his run to attack perfectly.

Racing over 12 laps over the 139.2km course, Mackellar was in the peloton with two laps to go but almost two minutes behind a breakaway of three riders out in front.

Mackellar attacked, seizing his moment in the race, up Mount Buninyong on the penultimate lap to get to the breakaway by the time the final lap started.

The 21-year-old then charged past his rivals in the breakaway group to lead and win by more than a minute.

He was the fastest rider on the circuit in the final two laps and gained almost three minutes on the field.

“I was in doubt there for a while, when it got out to three plus minutes and we had four to five laps to go I was getting a bit worried,” he said.

“It’s my fifth year here now and I knew you could bring back a lot of time in the last few laps, so I kept patience and trusted the process of it all.

“Two to go was my plan (to attack) from the beginning so I just followed the instinct and it was enough.”

Mackellar said his experience counted for a lot but he was surprised it all worked out to plan.

“This course is honestly experience, you see it all the time people going early,” he said.

“Podiuming here twice as an under-19 I learned lots about how to ride the course and I put that knowledge into today (Saturday) and luckily I was able to do it.

“Once I crossed the line and it was done, I couldn’t believe it.”

Mackellar will now head back overseas to prepare for the new season with his team.

In the under-19 men’s and women’s road race both were won by riders making a decisive breakaway early and late in the race.

South Australia’s Joshua Cranage took out the men’s race after attacking with two laps to go with Cohen Jessen from the peloton, which had just 15 riders after the attrition of the race took out many contenders.

The duo got a lead of 46 seconds with one lap of the Buninyong circuit to go and managed to maintain the lead until the end, despite a challenge from Wil Holmes and Oscar Chamberlain who attacked late.

Joshua Cranage is happy after winning the under-19 men’s road race of the Australian National Road Race Championships at Buninyong in Ballarat. Photo by Con Chronis/AusCycling

Cranage sprinted away from Jessen to win his first national road race title in any age group.

“I knew I had Cohen in a sprint, because he’s a mountain biker and doesn’t have the same kick as me,” the McLaren Vale and Norwood Cycling Club member said.

“(I’m) happy, a lot of hard work has paid off I guess.”

Cranage revealed the goal was to attack when he did and try to get to the end away from the peloton.

“There wasn’t a lot of people working on the front, it was quite easy going into two laps to go, (so I) attacked up the climb with Cohen and held on,” he said.

“I knew I wouldn’t win in a bunch sprint, so I didn’t want to go to the line w9th the peloton.

“I was definitely happy that Cohen was there to help.”

Cranage has been cycling for the past five years, transitioning from triathlon racing to cycling when he was a teenager.

Now the goal is to race overseas and potentially compete for Australia at the youth Commonwealth Games, which will be held in Trinidad and Tobago in August.

The Croweater recently signed with a Belgium race team.

In the women’s race, Tasmanian Felicity Wilson-Haffenden from Team BridgeLane won after breaking away on lap two with Lauren Bates.

Felicity Wilson-Haffenden celebrates winning the under-19 women's road race in Ballarat. Picture: Zac Williams/AusCycling

Wilson-Haffenden held on until the end and won a sprint to the finish against two other riders, Mackenzie Coupland and Talia Appleton, to claim the green and gold jersey.

The elite road races will be held Sunday with the women to be held first and the men to race in the afternoon.

Full schedule is here.