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Amber Pate powers to second elite criterium national title
Jan 10, 2025
Amber Pate has won the elite women's criterium at the 2025 AusCycling Road National Championships after breaking away with 19-year-old Keira Will, who won the under-23 women's title.
The pair attacked early in the race around Northbridge in Perth and gradually increased their gap despite accelerations from the likes of Amanda Spratt and Alex Manly.
Meanwhile, Pate's Liv AlUla Jayco teammates in the bunch were happy to let the 2023 winner stay away.
As Pate and Will's lead extended to over a minute, they threatened to lap the field. The commissaires allowed the bunch to sprint for the minor places, where Olympic track athlete Maeve Plouffe (Hess Cycling Team) took bronze.
Up front, Pate attacked her younger companion on the back straight and quickly opened the gap. The South Australian soloed into Francis Street for the final time to claim her second elite women's criterium national title.
"I'm stoked. It’s just awesome to have this with the team as well and it is a team effort because when I’m off the front the team are doing a lot of stuff in the bunch to make it happen," Pate said.
"We come into these races to win and I thought let's crack on early because it'll help the team, it'll help the race, and through the corners in the bunch it's hard regardless of how slow or fast you're going so I thought yeah, let's crack on.
"I had a great breakaway partner with me, Keira, who's now the under-23 champ, and we were an awesome team, she's a fantastic little rider.
"After about five minutes I said (to Keira), ‘we’re here to win let’s make it happen’ which means you’ve got to work all day, and we both worked really hard all day."
After losing contact with Pate, Will also finished solo to pick up an elite silver medal to go along with her new U23 national champion jersey.
Earlier in the day, ARA Skip Capital's Amelie Sanders added the criterium title to her time trial title from Wednesday.
The Queenslander sprinted home ahead of teammate Anna Dubier and Praties Cycling Team's Ruby Taylor.
Results - Women's Criteriums
Elite Women
- Amber Pate (Liv AlUla Jayco) 43:37
- Keira Will* (Lidcombe Auburn CC/NSWIS) +19
- Maeve Plouffe (Hess Cycling Team) +3:55
- Ruby Roseman-Gannon (Liv AlUla Jayco) +3:55
- Lucie Fityus (St Michel - Preference Home - Auber93) +3:55
- Josie Talbot (Liv AlUla Jayco) +3:55
- Alexandra Manly (AG Insurance - Soudal Cycling Team) +3:55
- Alyssa Polites* (Meridian Blue Cycling p/b 99 Bikes) +3:55
- Odette Lynch (Butterfields Ziptrak Racing)
- Lauretta Hanson (Lidl-Trek) +3:55
U23 Women
(combined with Elite Women)
- Keira Will (Lidcombe Auburn CC/NSWIS)
- Alyssa Polites (Meridian Blue Cycling p/b 99 Bikes)
- Belinda Bailey (Bendigo and District CC)
- Lucinda Stewart (Liv AlUla Jayco Women's Continental Team)
- Claudia Marcks (Canberra CC)
- Zoe Davison (Swan Drafting CC)
- Quinn Findlay (Hamilton Wheelers CC)
- Emily Dixon (Butterfields Ziptrak Racing)
- Lillee Pollock (Praties Cycling Team)
Junior Women
- Amelie Sanders (ARA Skip Capital) 38:36
- Anna Dubier (ARA Skip Capital) +0
- Ruby Taylor (Praties Cycling Team) +0
- Maddie Wasserbaech (Butterfields Ziptrak Racing) +0
- Leani van der Berg (ARA Skip Capital) +0
- Ava Schmidtke (Butterfields Ziptrak Racing) +0
- Caitlin Rose (Newcastle Hunter CC) +0
- Charlotte Lovett (Butterfields Ziptrak Racing) +0
- Ash Watts (Canberra CC) +0
- Hayley Dell (Newcastle Hunter CC) +0
Feature picture: ZW Photography/AusCycling