Tom and Sam were very active in the first part of the race and were able to work themselves into small groups trying to get away. Not longer into the race, Sam was able to get himself into a good group who stayed away to contest the first Prime of the day. Sam was strong enough to beat the likes of Hayden Brookes (Fly V pro) to the first Prime.
The wind was relentless and was quickly weeding out the weaker riders. The team was super strong today and we maintained a good presence at the front of the race, knowing this was the best place to be. Half way through the race Ruben Donati attacked hard and was away solo. Matt and Hayden Brookes set off in pursuit and spent several laps off the front of the race trying to bridge to Donati. This move caused a big split in the race with only the strongest (or smartest) riders left in the front group. 
With ten minutes to go Matt and Sam were left in the small front group of twelve riders, saving energy for a last minute attack late in the race. With one lap to go Matt was caught behind a weaker rider who couldn’t hold the wheel and had to leave Sam in the front group to fend for himself with 1km to go. 
Coming into the final sprint it was going to be hard for Sam to beat the likes of Malcolm Rudolf, Darren Rolfe, Peter Thompson and Bevan Mason in a sprint, but Sam did really well to hold on for a top ten finish. Today was one of the hardest crits contested recently, which was evident of the quality riders left in the small group at the finish.The team is very proud of their efforts today and we know that once we start doing some of the longer harder races which are more suited to our riding style, we’ll have some great success.
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