Australia’s best road cyclist, Grace Brown, has been marked by victory on the prestigious Women’s Tour, losing just one second after a week of 720 kilometers on British roads.
Volta Femenina
General classification (final)
- Elisa Longo Borghini (ITA): 19 hours, 19 minutes, 7 seconds
- Grace Brown (AUS): + 1 second
- Katarzyna Niewiadoma (POL): + 5 seconds
- Alexandra Manly (AUS): + 24 seconds
- Ashleigh Moolman-Passion (Sth AF): + 32 seconds
Brown, the highest-rated Australian rider (male or female) in the UCI world rankings, lost Italian star Elisa Longo Borghini after the dramatic sixth and final 143-kilometer stage on Saturday of Chipping Norton in Oxford.
Brown, 29, of Camperdown, the leader of the night but blocked at the same time as Longo Borghini in the overall standings, looked like he could make his first major victory in a stage race when he got an extra three seconds to go. earn an intermediate. sprint.
But Longo Borghini was rewarded for his intent to attack during the last kilometer, fighting for third place behind stage winner Lorena Wiebes, which earned him a four-second bonus to victory. of a second after over 19 and a quarter. driving hours for six days.
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It was so close that even the teammates at Brown’s FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope thought he had won after crossing the line, only because the frustrating news was slowly making its way down the peloton.
It was an anticlimatic end for Brown, who was only able to finish 12th on the stage, as Trek Segafredo’s Longo Borghini added to his considerable list of victories.
But the Victorian was magnanimous in the defeat, praising the Italian for her “incredible” effort.
“I did the first intermediate sprint that put me three seconds ahead. We thought we were pretty safe for the final as long as there were no gaps, but it was very messy and Trek made an amazing start to put Elisa in a really good position ahead of the curves, “Brown said.
“That got her there to sprint for the third, which we didn’t really expect. Chapeau to her for an amazing sprint finish.”
Dutch winger Wiebes (Team DSM) has completed a hat-trick of victories in historic Oxford to beat Brown’s teammate Clara Copponi.
Brown’s compatriot Alexandra Manly of Team BikeExchange-Jayco also completed a good week’s work, finishing fourth overall, just 24 seconds behind Longo Borghini.
AAP