Brenton Jones has ended his cycling career on a huge high, adding a second Bay Crits crown to his trophy cabinet after a thrilling finale which ended with him winning on a countback.
Jones won the Bay Crits in 2014 and announced before this year's race in Geelong that it would be his swansong after almost 20 years in the saddle in Australia and Europe.
The 31-year-old was forced to wait more than 10 minutes for confirmation of his overall victory after finishing level on points with stage two winner Graeme Frislie, who crossed the line third.
Due to Jones, riding with Bayside Citroen, taking out two stages to Commonwealth Games representative Frislie's one he was declared the winner.
The stage three battle was decided in a photo finish with Frislie, riding in the CCACHE x Par Kup team, edged into third by Blake Agnoletto (ARA Skip Capital).
Had he finished second he would have won the overall standings.
Confusion reigned briefly at the Ritchie Boulevard course, with Frislie told in an on-course interview he had won before the official results were finalised.
Flanked by his heavily pregnant wife Lucy and his mother Karin Jones, who is the event organiser, Jones was thrilled with the victory.
"That was incredible, just amazing - I felt good all race, just comfortable," Jones told reporters.
"I'm in really good form but I can't do it without the Bayside Citroen team, they did an incredible job.
"You saw Plappy (Luke Plapp) at the start, Ferg (Fergus Browning) and the rest of the boys during the race and then Blake (Quick) leading me out like I did for him last year. The camaraderie there is amazing and I'm incredibly proud to do it again."
Jones said he wouldn't compete at this week's national titles in Ballarat and would instead look to transition into his coaching career and becoming a first-time father.
