Bathurst's Ebony Robinson wins national under 17s criterium title at Wollongong

Robinson stormed to the front of the field with 50 metres to go in Wednesday's criterium and was able to lead home a New South Wales clean sweep of the podium.

She follows in the tracks of older sister Kalinda, who also won the under 17s national criterium last time the event was run in 2019.

Robinson led home Anna Dubier (Lidcombe Auburn CC) and Nicole Duncan (Central Coast CC) in the bunch sprint.

It was a chaotic finish to Robinson's race, which required a restart inside the last two laps of the race due to a crash.

That presented the Bathurst rider a hurdle to overcome as she had to work her way back through the field.

However, overcoming such a situation made winning the national champion jersey all the more satisfying for Robinson.

"It was a really tough race and a really good result. I'm really about with it," she said.

"We were into the final two laps and going around a corner when there was a big crash in the middle of the pack. We'd came around for the final lap expecting to finish the race but we got stopped.

"They restarted us with three laps to go but it was a bit hard with positioning. I was in a good positioned before they stopped us but I had to work my way back up through the bunch."

A national criterium title was something that Robinson felt she was capable of heading to Wollongong.

"Out of the three races this week I thought that the criterium would be my best shot," she said.

"I was really nervous all day because the race was in the afternoon, so I just went out there to give it my best and see what would happen.

"It was a different sort of experience than what I was used to because going around the corner I was getting squeezed and shoulder-barged, which could be pretty scary."

Sadly for Robinson she wasn't able to replicate her success in the road race, due to a crash that occurred in front of her, but her criterium gold was the top priority for the championships.

"There was a touch of wheels in front of me and then it was stacks on. I got caught up in that but I managed to finish the race. It was a bit tough though, just riding by myself for the rest of it," she said.

"I'm glad I was still able to finish the road race. I managed to finish 18^th in the time trial, which was a pretty good result for me. I'm quite happy with that as well because that wasn't my main focus."

Fellow Bathurst rider Cadel Lovett added to the great campaign for the Bathurst club by bringing home silver in the under 17s boys road race on Thursday.

Lovett also picked up a top 10 finish in his criterium event.

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