Cyclist Ruby sparkles with Bay Classic win

Brisbane's Blake Quick lived up to his surname, taking out the bunch sprint to win the elite men's race.

Roseman-Gannon took out a reduced sprint at the end of the Saturday afternoon criterium on Geelong's Eastern Park circuit.

The 23-year-old Melbourne rider has signed with top Australian team BikeExchange Jayco on a two-year deal.

She is racing the weekend's two Bay Classic races in the composite Lexus of Blackburn team, who set up Roseman-Gannon perfectly for the win.

One of her teammates in the Bay Classic is Tokyo Olympian Grace Brown, who has left BikeExchange Jayco to join French team FdJ.

Brown was part of a break that went clear early and then she opened up a 10-second lead.

But the race came together midway and Lexus of Blackburn set up the finish for Roseman-Gannon, with seven riders contesting the sprint.

"I didn't know whether I'd have it in that last little bit, it was a bit tight around that corner," she said.

"But I really wanted to pull it off, because when you have a rider like Grace Brown riding for you, she's one of the best cyclists in Australia, I can't let her down.

"It was cool to pull it off today."

Alex Martin-Wallace finished second and Matilda Raynolds third, while Brown took eighth.

Roseman-Gannon is targeting the criterium next week at the national road championships in Ballarat.

"That's an itch to scratch, because I've been up there for three years, I really want to win that," she said.

In the men's race, Quick's TMX Make team and the Lexus of Blackburn squad shut down a break in the closing laps to set up a bunch sprint of more than 20 riders.

Led out by teammate Brenton Jones, who won the 2014 Bay Classic series, Quick took the win ahead of Craig Wiggins and Jensen Plowright.

The series has been shortened to two races because of the COVID-19 surge and will end on Sunday at the same circuit.

Australian Associated Press