Caleb Ewan the man to beat in twilight criterium to open national road cycling championships

VICTORIAN sprinter Brenton Jones debuts for new team Drapac in Ballarat tonight trying to upset red-hot favourite Caleb Ewan in a twilight criterium to open Cycling Australia’s national road championships.

Brenton Jones in his new kit with Drapac Professional Cycling. Picture: Supplied.

VICTORIAN sprinter Brenton Jones debuts for new team Drapac in Ballarat tonight trying to upset red-hot favourite Caleb Ewan in a twilight criterium to open Cycling Australia’s national road champ-ionships.

Jones, 23, made the switch from Avanti Racing to Drapac in the off-season and heads into tonight’s 44km race as one of the main challengers to 20-year-old Orica-GreenEDGE sensation Ewan.

Ewan is fresh from winning the Mitchelton Bay Cycling Classic for the second time, winning three of four stages to make an emphatic statement on the eve of the national titles.

Jones, who won the Bay Classic last year, has made tonight’s criterium his early-season goal and the focus of a training camp in Bright last week. Kimberly Wells and Chloe Hosking — who won her first Bay Cycling Classic this week — are the favourites for the women’s race, which is over 33km.

The men’s field includes sprinter and defending champion Steele von Hoff but the undulating course can throw the race wide open, like in 2013 when all-rounder Cameron Meyer escaped on his own.

“A few years back you saw Cam Meyer win there solo so it’s one of those criterium courses where if the right break goes up the road or if someone is feeling good on the day, or if you misjudge your timing for the lead-out, someone else can steal the show,” Jones said.

“It is a challenging course, it’s an up-and-down circuit so every lap you’re coming out of the bottom corner and straight up the main drag and onto a climb and a really fast descent.

“I’m sure there’ll be a few fireworks.”

Jones’ focus on trying to win the criterium and take the green and gold jersey overseas this year meant he was unable to defend his Bay Cycling Classic title against the likes of Ewan this week.

“Being the defending champion, yes it was a little disappointing, but the team’s goal was to come to the camp and prepare for the 2015 season as a whole and not just for the first race (of the year),” he said.

“Being with the new team it’s good to go on a camp and bond with the boys before you go to some of the big races.”

Von Hoff will be eager to retain his title after losing his WorldTour contract with Garmin in the off-season and signing with British team NFTO.

The national championships continue with the time trial tomorrow and road races on Saturday and Sunday.

Originally published as Caleb Ewan the man to beat in twilight criterium to open national road cycling championships