Alex Correll and Lauren Bates storm to dominate Junior NRS wins at Balmoral Junior Tour

Alex Correll (Tandem Co x Futuro Pro Cycling/Hamilton Wheelers CC) and Lauren Bates (ARA Skip Capital/Canberra CC) have entered the 2024 BikeChain Junior 19 National Road Series with authority at the Balmoral Junior and Women's Tour.

Both Correll and Bates won multiple stages en route to the general classification victory and catapulted themselves up the Junior NRS standings after not racing the opening round at the Canberra Junior and Women's Tour.

Brisbane-based Correll went all the way to the top and into the leader's jersey after winning the prologue and hill climb, finishing second in the road race and scoring minor points in the final stage kermesse.

The first-year under-19 rider is now level on 400 points with Canberra Junior Tour winner Julian Baudry (Alpine CC), but takes leader's jersey precedence due to being the highest-placed rider in the most recent race.

Baudry finished the tour third in the GC, 18 seconds behind Correll.

Toby Jones (Balmoral CC), a member of the ARA Australian Cycling Team for the upcoming 2024 UCI Junior Track World Championships, split Correll and Baudry in second.

Fellow Brisbane-based riders Levi Dougherty (Balmoral CC) and Thomas Waites (RATS CC) claimed the road race and kermesse stage wins respectively to make it a fruitful weekend for the locals.

After spending time racing in Europe on an ARA Australian Cycling Team development opportunity and being selected for the 2024 UCI Road World Championships, Bates returned to domestic racing in style by winning three out of four stages and the GC.

The Canberran set the standard for the weekend early in the opening prologue and bar a fifth-place finish in the road race had full control over the tour, which was on full display in her near two-minute solo win in the kermesse.

That show of power pushed the overall winning GC margin to two minutes and 37 seconds ahead of Canberra Junior Tour winner and Junior NRS leader Emma Ochoa (99 Bikes Women’s Academy/Carnegie Caulfield CC), who now leads the overall series outright by 30 points ahead of Leani van der Berg (South Coast CC) after a consistent tour that garnered two podiums in the road race and hill climb.

Van der Berg rounded out the GC podium in third after three podium finishes in the prologue, road race and kermesse.

Charlotte Lovett (Bathurst CC) was the only woman to spoil Bates' possible clean sweep of stage wins after an impressive victory in the road race.

The final round of the 2024 BikeChain Junior 19 National Road Series will take place at the Tour of Gippsland from October 2-4 alongside the AusCycling National Road Series.

BikeChain Junior 19 National Road Series men's top-10

1st: Alex Correll (Tandem Co x Futuro Pro Cycling/Hamilton Wheelers CC) - 400

2nd: Julian Baudry (Alpine CC) - 400

3rd: Eddie Willis (Team BridgeLane/Tamworth CC) - 290

4th: Jonas Shelverton (Team BridgeLane/Hobart Wheelers Dirt Devils) - 260

5th: Toby Jones (Balmoral CC) - 250

6th: Tully Hickman (Villawood Cycling Team/Port Adelaide CC) - 240

7th: Levi Dougherty (Balmoral CC) - 235

8th: Louis Freschi (Villawood Cycling Team/Adelaide MTB Club) - 150

9th: Edward Marcks (Canberra CC) - 125

10th: Thomas Waites (RATS CC) - 125

BikeChain Junior 19 National Road Series women's top-10

1st: Emma Ochoa (99 Bikes Women's Academy/Carnegie Caulfield CC) - 500

2nd: Leani van der Berg (South Coast CC) - 470

3rd: Lauren Bates (ARA Skip Capital/Canberra CC) - 425

4th: Charlotte Lovett (Bathurst CC) - 370

5th: Georgia Gardiner (Canberra CC) - 275

6th: Miriam Sinnerbrink (Southern Cross CC) - 250

7th: Hannah Gianatti (Penrith CC) - 160

8th: Lilyth Jones (Bendigo & District CC) - 85

9th: Rosie Jackson (Northern Districts CC) - 70

10th: Ash Watts (Canberra CC) - 60

Full results

Feature picture: Bear Liange