Having come "agonisingly" close to another Tour Down Under title, Amanda Spratt is looking forward to duelling with Grace Brown on the iconic Willunga Hill climb.
The two Australian cycling stars again loom as the headline acts in the January 12-14 race, where Brown will be defending champion after narrowly beating Spratt this year.
Brown and Spratt have confirmed they will ride at the Adelaide Tour at the start of a big season for the pair, highlighted by July's Paris Olympics.
Brown is a key Australian Olympic medal contender, having won silver in the time trial at the last two world championships.
She was fourth in the event at the Tokyo Olympics, while Spratt will most likely go to her fourth Games as captain of the women's road race team.
But before they are teammates in Paris, they will be domestic rivals in January.
Brown (FDJ-Suez) and Spratt (Lidl-Trek) are expected to also be top contenders in the January 7 road race at the national championships, which are being held in Ballarat for the last time before moving in 2025.
On January 27, Brown and Spratt will most likely close out their early-season Australian racing at the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race in Geelong.
Brown famously won a two-rider duel with Spratt on the last stage this year to win the Tour Down Under for the first time.
Spratt distanced Brown on the decisive Corkscrew climb, only to be caught on the descent and outsprinted at the finish.
That gave Brown the overall win by 10 seconds over Spratt, who has won the race three times.
Now Spratt is keenly awaiting Willunga Hill - which, unlike Corkscrew, will be a summit finish that should play more to her climbing prowess.
It will be the first time the women's Tour Down Under has featured Willunga Hill, made famous by Richie Porte's repeated domination of the stage in the men's race.
"It's always exciting to start a new season at the Santos Tour Down Under and in 2024 there's a little more to look forward to with the addition of Willunga Hill to the women's WorldTour race for the first time," Spratt said on Thursday.
"I can't deny that I have my eyes set on a good performance there, it's a big goal of mine.
"Overall, I have great memories of this race having won it three times and I am eager to try to replicate that success this time.
"I was close last year, agonisingly close you could say, so I am really motivated to come back to race for the victory all over again."
Cyc
