Bathurst Cycling Classic: Bathurst Cycling Club competitor Tom Bolton claims spoils in men's division one criterium

On Saturday he did just that with his sprint victory in the men's division one criterium, picking up one of the biggest victories of his career to date.

The Bathurst-based student, riding for Oliver's Real Food Racing and Dulwich Hill Cycling Club, held off late challenges from Stephen Cuff (Penrith CC) and Ben Hill (Canberra CC) to win the one hour race.

The recent Cycling NSW Under 23s rider of the year said his win wouldn't have been possible without sacrifices from his teammates.

"That was great fun. We came into that lap in a pretty good position. I had my teammate in front of me and the racing was getting pretty gnarly going into the second last corner and the sprint probably started there - maybe 600m from home," he said.

"Kai [Chapman], my teammate, lit it up from there. He got me close to the front, I accelerated into the corner and I felt that if we came in that last corner sitting in first place then we'd win. With this sort of cross tailwind it's going to be fast-finishing and it's hard to come around.

"This win is right up there in my career. I've been living in Bathurst for the past few years and this is probably my last year of uni year and maybe my last home race for a while.

"I started racing here when I was 12, in the B2B, so it means a lot to come back 10 years later and get a win here."

Bolton, Chapman as well as Bathurst Cycling Club's Will Hodges were involved in a seven man breakaway which threatened to get clear of the main bunch with around 20 minutes to go.

The group, also featuring Ben Hill, Luke Cridland, Ben Spenceley and Scott Law, were eventually reeled back in.

Hodges, Bolton, Chapman, Ben Hill, along with his brother and Friday's hill climb winner Sam Hill, tried one more time to go for the jump off the front as a group but it wasn't to be.

Parramatta's Deren Perry tried unsuccessfully to jump clear of the field, which left the field bunched back up in a sprint for the line.

Even after the multiple breakaway attempts Bolton still had a lot to offer in the final lap dash for home, as he completed his 55^th and most memorable lap of the race at the front of the pack.

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