Having already clocked up victory on Tuesday’s third stage of the Jayco Bay Cycling Classic, Genesys Wealth Advisers rider Anthony Giacoppo topped the podium once again in today’s Australian criterium championships.
The 25 year old is a part-time bike rider, working in a bike shop in Perth, but his strong form saw him blast home ahead of the experienced pro Mark Renshaw (Rabobank) and Giacoppo’s former team-mate Steel von Hoff. The latter will race with the development team connected to Garmin-Cervélo in 2012.
“It's a great way to start the weekend and a great way to start the season, so hopefully we can just build from here and keep going,” said an elated Giacoppo after the 44 kilometre Ballarat contest. “I got second last year, so we've always had it in our heads that this is the one race where you can go quite well.”
The key to his success was timing, and positioning. He tracked his Rabobank rival into the final corner, then kicked 
hard to come around him before the finish line. “I just went straight off Renshaw's wheel and never looked back,” he said.
Renshaw has changed teams this year after three years with the HTC setup. He’s chosen not to follow Mark Cavendish to Sky Procycling, wishing instead to chase his own victories rather than remaining as a leadout man for the Manx rider.
He wasn’t too disappointed not to take the win, saying that a lack of recent racing meant that he is yet to click back into action. “I felt good, it's my first race (and) if feels like my heartrate is 180,” he stated. “I said earlier I would be happy to podium and I've done that, so I'm where I need to be.
“I just missed the jump and that's a bit of a mistake, but it happens in the first race back.”
For Giacoppo, the success is a big morale boost prior to Sunday’s road race championships. Cycling Australia still has two places left to allocate in its team for the Santos Tour Down Under, with the final lineup to be determined on the basis of the championships.
It has stated that if the winner of the race is not already listed to ride or from a UCI ProTeam, he will get a slot. Otherwise, selectors will allocate that place. The remaining slot will be handed to a rider who is deemed to have pulled off a standout performance in either the elite men’s road race or the Under 23 event.
“This is a great opportunity for emerging talent to step onto the world stage and experience international racing at the very top level,” said Cycling Australia CEO Graham Fredericks this week. “Speaking with riders over recent months, it's clear many have marked that as a key objective of their nationals campaign.”
Today’s under 23 criterium championships came down to a bunch sprint and there Scott Law (NSW) beat Jayco-AIS rider Jay McCarthy (QLD). Last year’s champion Bern Grenda (TAS) was third. Law triumphed after McCarthy's team mate Aaron Donnelly was reeled in close to the finish.
“I wasn't too sure how it would go towards the end there as Aaron is a very strong guy from the AIS team who I am usually training with down at home,” he said, “but I stuck to the big boys and favourites like Ben (Grenda) and Tom Palmer and kept myself up there. I knew I had to be second or third wheel going into those two last corners for the last few laps. I got myself into perfect position and went from there.”
He said that the race was a major objective for him, particularly with his track background. However, despite training hard for it, he admitted that it was a big surprise to win.
He and the other riders will compete in the under 23 road race in Buninyong on Sunday.
Mars Cycling Australia national championships, Ballarat:
Elite men’s criterium:
1, Anthony Giacoppo (Wa)1 hour 26 secs
2, Mark Renshaw (Nsw)
3, Steele Von Hoff (Vic)
4, Bernard Sulzberger (Tas)
5, Malcolm Rudolph (Qld)
6, Baden Cooke (Vic)
7, Shannon Johnson (Vic)
8, Dean Windsor (Nsw)
9, Rico Rogers (Vic)
10, Zakkari Dempster (Vic)
11, Sam Witmitz
12, Jonathan Cantwell (Qld)
13, Neil Van Der Ploeg (Vic)
14, Richard Lang (Nsw)
15, Paul Van Der Ploeg (Vic)
16, Fabio Calabria (Act)
17, Dale Scarfe (Nsw)
18, James Mcdulling (Nsw)
19, Nicholas Mitchell (Vic) at 7 secs
20, Michael Curran (Nsw)
21, James Hepburn (Qld)
22, Jason Spence
23, Marc Williams (Act)
24, Michael Troy (Nsw)
25, Darren Lapthorne (Vic) at 15 secs
26, Alexander Smyth (Vic) at 17 secs
27, Patrick Shaw (Vic)
28, Nash Kent (Nsw) at 24 secs
29, Jonathan Lovelock (Vic)
30, Nicholas Sanderson (Vic) at 27 secs
31, Joel Pearson (Vic)
32, Sam Rutherford (Nsw) at 31 secs
33, Robbie Mcewen (Qld) at 35 secs
34, Blair Windsorat 37 secs
35, William Clarke (Tas) at 49 secs
36, Sean Finning (Vic) at 55 secs
37, Tom Donald (Vic)
38, Damien Turner (Vic) at 1 Min
39, Phillip Grenfell (Nsw) at 1 Min 5 secs
40, Shaun Mccarthy (Vic)
41, David Pell (Vic) at 1 Min 9 secs
42, Jacob Kauffmann (Nsw)
43, Michael Cupitat 1 Min 19 secs
44, Kris Johnston (Act) at 1 Min 33 secs
45, Adam Semple (Wa)
46, Rhys Pollock (Nsw) at 2 Mins 14 secs
Dnf:
Dane Crawford (Nsw)
Andrew Crawley (Nsw)
Anthony Dimotrovski (Nsw)
David Jamesion (Qld)
Caleb Jones (Nsw)
Ben Kersten (Nsw)
Jake Magee (Nsw)
Peter Malcolm (Vic)
Johnathan Millington (Nsw)
Chris Pescott (Vic)
Stuart Shaw (Act)
Peter Thompson (Qld)
Edward White (Nsw)
Under 23:
1, Scott Law (Nsw)
2, Jay Mccarthy (Qld)
3, Ben Grenda (Tas)
4, Benjamin Hill (Nsw)
5, Jackson Law (Nsw)
6, Aaron Donnelly (Nsw)
7, Damien Howson (Sa)
8, Jordan Kerby (Qld)
9, Brenton Jones (Vic)
10, Mitchell Codner (Nsw)
11, George Tansley (Sa)
12, Ryan Macanally (Qld)
13, Luke Davison (Nsw)
14, James Mowatt (Vic)
15, Pat Drapac (Vic)
16, Joshua Prete (Qld) at 8 secs
17, Angus Tobin (Nsw)
18, Sam Crome (Vic) at 9 secs
19, Blake Hose (Vic)
20, James Rendall (Nsw)
21, Alex Clements (Tas)
22, Jack Beckinsale (Nsw)
23, Lachlan Morton (Nsw)
24, Stuart Mulhern (Qld)
25, Trenton Day (Nsw)
26, Samuel Spokes (Nsw)
27, Josh Taylor (Nsw)
28, Cameron Bayly (Sa) at 14 secs
29, Mitchell Lovelock-Fay (Act) at 16 secs
30, Thomas Palmer (Act) at 18 secs
31, Darcy Woolley (Vic)
32, Liam Dove (Vic) at 19 secs
33, Scott Mcphee (Sa) at 21 secs
34, Alex Wong (Nsw) at 30 secs
35, Harry Carpenter (Sa)
36, James Boal (Vic) at 34 secs
37, Joel Stearnes (Tas)
38, Stephen Hall (Wa)
39, Cameron Ivory (Nsw) at 43 secs
40, Alex Carver (Nsw) at 49 secs
41, David Edwards (Qld) at 55 secs
42, Campbell Flakemore (Tas) at 1 Min 1 Sec
43, Jack Matthews (Tas) at 1 Min 6 secs
44, Samuel Davis (Wa) at 1 Min 23 secs
45, Alastair Loutit (Nsw) at 1 Min 25 secs
46, Julian Hamill (Nsw) at 1 Min 26 secs
47, Jared Triggs (Nsw)
48, Peter Loft (Tas) at 2 Mins 17 secs
49, Brian Mcleod (Qld)
Dnf:
Nick Aitken (Vic)
Calvin Watson (Vic)
Lachlan Ambrose (Sa)
Phillip Mundy (Sa)
Daniel O'keefe (Nsw)
Mitchell Cooper (Vic)
Stefan Imberger (Vic)
Merlin Spranz (Sa)
James Butler (Vic)
Luke Collyer (Nsw)
Michael Crosbie (Vic)
Callum Fagg (Tas)
Luke Fetch (Vic)
Jarryd Jones (Vic)
Matthew Lane (Vic)
Sam Mccallum (Vic)
Macauley Mulhull (Nsw)
Conor Murtagh (Vic)
Danny Pulbrook (Tas)
Rick Sanders (Vic)
Bradley Wills (Vic)
Luke Ockerby (Tas)