BikeChain J19 National Road Series: Ava Schmidtke, Oliver Ward lead after Riverland victories

The opening round of the BikeChain J19 National Road Series has seen South Australians Oliver Ward (Norwood CC) and Ava Schmidtke (South Coast CC) conquer their home race, the Junior Tour of the Riverland.

The season opener was held over three stages last weekend: a road race, individual time trial and criterium hosted by Norwood Cycling Club in the state's east.

In the under-19 men’s event, Ward – riding in the orange colours of Team Brennan – took the lead after winning Stage 2's time trial ahead of William Brown (SASI / Port Adelaide CC), who had won the opening stage in a bunch sprint.

The final stage was won by Henry Jones (Tas Junior Cycling Foundation) in a three-up breakaway. Although Jones and Brown both took back time on the race leader, Ward did just enough to hold on to the GC victory by just three seconds.

Oliver Ward won the 13-kilometre ITT by 19 seconds over William Brown.

In the under-19 women’s race, Schmidtke, racing for Butterfields ZipTrak Racing, bookended the Tour with victories on Stage 1 and Stage 3.

While she took the opening stage in a reduced sprint, Schmidtke had to race aggressively in the final criterium in order to wrest the GC crown from Megan Russell (Women’s Cycling Development Initiative p/b Balmoral Cycling Club), who had dominated the time trial.

Russell had averaged nearly 40kph in the 13km test against the clock and was the only rider to post a time faster than 20 minutes. She carried a 22-second advantage into the final stage, but Schmidtke was able to break free of the peloton and solo to victory, taking enough time bonuses to secure the GC.

Megan Russell dominated the stage two time trial, but couldn't hold off Schmidtke overall.

“This weekend was absolutely amazing,” Schmidtke said after the race. “Going into the first stage, we had such a strong team plan, and it's a privilege to race with the team and those girls, and we had to work together and develop a plan. All the hard work paid off.

“The time trial yesterday was really tough for me. Coming into today, I knew I had a 22-second gap to try and close down, and on a crit circuit that's really difficult. So, I just tried to play my cards right and it paid off the end.”

The next round of the BikeChain J19 National Road Series will be the Canberra Junior Tour starting May 24.

“I’ll be heading over to Canberra with the team,” Schmidtke said. “I'd just like to thank the team and all the sponsors and everyone that goes into making tours like this happen. It's really special.”

Women Under-19 – General Classification

1. Ava Schmidtke (South Coast CC) 2:44:27
2. Megan Russell (Balmoral Cycling Club) +9
3. Meg MacDonald (Balmoral Cycling Club) +1:27
4. Hayley Dell (Newcastle Hunter CC) +1:29
5. Ash Watts (Canberra CC) +1:41

 Men Under-19 – General Classification

1. Oliver Ward (Norwood CC) 2:36:51
2. Henry Jones (Tas Junior Cycling Foundation) +3
3. William Brown (Port Adelaide CC) +4
4. Justin Evans (Norwood CC) +35
5. Fraser Oertel (Butterfields ZipTrak Racing) +40

Photos: Turn8Photography / Hayden Archibald