Steele Von Hoff wins Australian national criterium championship

Steele Von Hoff (NFTO) has won the elite men’s criterium at the Australian Road National Championships for the second year in a row, sprinting to victory ahead of Caleb Ewan (Orica-GreenEdge) and Scott Sunderland (Budget Forklifts).

Von Hoff powered out of the final corner on the Sturt Street circuit in the heart of Ballarat, catching up to and then passing Caleb Ewan as the finish line approached.

Ewan went into the race as the hot favourite, despite being in just his first season in the senior ranks and despite having just one teammate on the startline: Leigh Howard.

The early stages of the 40-lap race saw several small groups break clear of the main field, but nothing was able to stick for any great length of time. Paul van der Ploeg (Charter Mason) broke clear to take the first intermediate sprint after 10 laps, and followed it up 10 laps later to secure victory in the sprint competition.

Aaron Donnelly (Avanti) took the sprint points in lap 30 of 40 as part of a two-rider escape group with Pat Lane (African Wildlife Safaris). With 10 laps to go Ben Hill (Charter Mason) broke clear of the reformed main field on his own before being joined four laps later by Cameron Bayly (Search2retain). The pair held a nine-second advantage over the peloton with five laps to go.

Michael Rogers (Tinkoff-Saxo) and Travis Meyer (Drapac) broke clear of the main field with four laps remaining, eventually making contact with Hill and Bayly on the penultimate lap. But a slight hesitation from the group on the back straight of the final lap saw the race come back together as the finish line approached.

Leigh Howard led the field through the final corner before Caleb Ewan launched an early sprint on the long, uphill drag to the finish. Steele Von Hoff powered up alongside Ewen in the final 100m before passing the young Orica-GreenEdge rider to take back-to-back national criterium titles.

Von Hoff said after the race that racing alongside Ewan at the Bay Crits earlier in the week helped him to learn how to beat the 20-year-old speedster.

“I learned from stage 3 at Portalington where he absolutely whooped me … that I left it too late to change gears”, Von Hoff said. “So I dropped my gears earlier [tonight] and as soon as he went I was right on him in his slipstream so all I had to do was sit there and come around him.

“But even when I did, he’s such a fast little guy — he’s going to be the next Mark Cavendish for sure.”

Von Hoff was asked in the post-race press conference whether Garmin-Sharp’s decision to not renew his contract in 2015 provided extra motivation in this evening’s race.

“I wasn’t even thinking about that to tell you the truth”, Von Hoff said. “I was just thinking about representing my new team NFTO and taking the [Australian] colours over there and they’re going to be delighted with the crit jersey over in Europe.”

Von Hoff will line up in the nationals road race on Sunday and is hoping for a good showing.

“I want to have a good race because I want to make the Tour Down Under [composite National] team. Because at the moment, if I don’t have a good one on Sunday, my season is pretty much done until March 8 when my first race over in Europe is”, Von Hoff said. “But if I have a good one on Sunday I can potentially do Tour Down Under, Herald Sun Tour and the Cadel Evans Race. So that’s the goal.”

Earlier in the evening Chris Hamilton (Vic/Avanti) won the U23 men’s criterium title after getting clear in the final third of the race in a three-rider group. Hamilton was joined by David Edwards and Mat Ross (VIS) in the three-rider group, the latter being dropped with four laps to go.

Hamilton and Edwards entered the final lap together before Hamilton, a 19-year-old mountain biker from Bendigo, broke clear to take the win. Edwards was second while Jesse Kerrison (BMC Development Team) was third from the bunch.

Results

• Race time: 1h01:17
• Average speed of the winner: 43.1 km/h
• Number of starters: 66
• Riders abandoning the race: 14

Decisions of the Commissaires Panel

• Rider 25 Leigh HOWARD fined $50 for frame number altered (Annexure 9, Item 4)
• Rider 169 Marc WILLIAMS fined $50 for frame number missing, requirement for event (Rule 3.3.03)

Intermediate Sprints

Lap 10 Sprint

Lap 20 Sprint

Lap 30 Sprint

Sprint Classification

Final Result