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Emily Watts made an early move in Saturday’s Bathurst Cycling Classic division one criterium and it paid off, winning by 29 seconds.
Former Bathurst Cycling Club rider Watts had finished third in January’s Road Nationals Under 19s women’s criterium using an identical tactic.
This time no-one came close to hunting her down.
Spurred on by plenty of home support around the one kilometre Kings Parade loop Watts battled hard to maintain the gap over the 40 minute race.
In the sprint finish for second Watts’ Sydney Uni Velo Club teammate Georgia Whitehouse finished ahead of Hawthorn Cycling Club’s Anna Booth.
Watts was spurred on by the home support.
“A lot of Bathurst people were out there today and you guys lifted me today. That was amazing.
“I was out of the saddle a little less in those last couple of laps, just trying to keep it consistent and trying to race more like a time trial instead of a criterium.”
A pack of 10 riders struggled to form an effective chase group and the gap to Watts blew out to 30 seconds in just over 10 minutes.
The addition of the William Street section, between Russell and Keppel Street, allowed Watts to easily keep an eye on where the chasers were.
Every time Watts would ride north east along William Street she would see the group rounding the first corner.
A lot of Bathurst people were out there today and you guys lifted me today. That was amazing.
- Emily Watts
Watts had three Sydney Uni Velo Club teammates in the race and none of them were ever going to make a significant contribution to the chase effort.
Much of the chase work was left to Dubbo Cycling Club’s Simone Grounds, Booth and Canberra Cycling Club’s Emma Viotto.
However, when one rider would attempt to raise the tempo there was little cooperation offered from the remainder of the group.
Watts had to effectively enter time trial mode from early in the piece.
Despite the tough effort a solo breakaway effort can be Watts showed her class to produce consistent lap times and secure a special victory.