The Vantage Criterium National Championships was my third time racing a criterium. From the moment I got on the rollers to the moment I crossed the finish line, I was very nervous. It look me a couple of corners on the first lap before I flew around them properly. 

It was a very smooth and challenging course, with tight corners to long windy straights. It always feels better having it in your hometown, though I do enjoy travelling around New Zealand for other races as well. I learnt quite a bit, even though it was a smaller field in my race it made it the more challenging. Although I was feeling pretty tired by the end, I gave it all I had in the finish. It was so close that it was a photo finish. My favourite moment was coming across the finish line, as it's when all your hard work comes down to crossing that little white line.

Amelia Sykes

I have always enjoyed the fast-paced nature of criterium racing so I was excited to hear that the Vantage Criterium National Championships were going to be in my hometown Christchurch this year. It was cool to later find out that the location was only a block away from my school!

The course was very fast with wide-open roads and one technical corner about 300 meters out from the finish. I was a bit nervous about this last corner after seeing it bring a couple of riders down in warmup but I knew if I wanted to stay out of trouble I needed to be up the front.

As soon as the start gun went all my nerves disappeared. I even started to enjoy the flow of the course. After about 15 minutes of racing, I attacked and bridged the gap from the peloton to a rider who had gone off the front. In hindsight, this was not a great idea with still 30 minutes remaining and a lot of firer power behind. I tried not to burn too many matches but was having fun. I was able to pick my own lines through corners and I also had the added bonus of avoiding the crashes that occurred.

As soon as we were caught, the counter-attack ended up being the main breakaway of the day and I found myself the second group. With ten riders up the road and the looks on the other riders faces it seemed unlikely we were going to close it down.

Coming into the last corner I was the second wheel and held it until the line, finishing 12th. It had been a really hard and exciting race and I was pleased to find out that I had managed to be the second under-19 finisher.

I hope this event will be the start of inner-city criteriums in Christchurch as it really was an awesome event to be apart of.  

Jack Drage