Ruby Roseman-Gannon (Liv-AlUla-Jayco) won a rain-soaked U23/Elite women's road race at the Federation University Australian Road National Championships, after being relentless in her efforts at the front of the race which ultimately came down to a small bunch sprint.
Lauretta Hanson (Lidl-Trek) was second in the dash to the line, crossing ahead of Alex Manly (Liv-AlUla-Jayco) who came third in the 104.4km race in Buninyong. Grace Brown (FDJ-Suez) was fourth. breaking a four-year run of podium appearances.
Neve Bradbury (Canyon-SRAM) took out the Under-23 title, being the only rider in that category in the lead group of 11, while Haylee Fuller (Team BridgeLane) took the U23 silver and last year's winner Ella Simpson (ARA Skip Capital) claimed bronze.
When asked how she felt about the result Roseman-Gannon, a rider who spent her formative stages at the Brunswick Cycling Club, said: “I think shock, it hasn’t sunk in yet. I’ve been dreaming about this day for a long time.”
“I knew I’d done a lot of work," she later added. "I’d been pretty motivated and trained hard. But I don’t think anyone really feels confident coming into the summer of cycling, because you just never know as you haven’t raced.”
However, a criterium title win for Roseman-Gannon earlier in the week had been a good indicator and she was a regular in the lead group as a dynamic road race with a rainy second half kept changing shape.
In the final kilometres Roseman-Gannon had initially been out the front with two former winners, Sarah Gigante (AG Insurance-Soudal) and Amanda Spratt (Lidl-Trek). But the chase group subsequently rejoined to make it a sprint from a lead group of 11.
How it unfolded
After a minute's silence for Melissa Dennis (née Hoskins), the race set off in dry conditions but with a warning of what might happen in case it needed to be stopped due to extreme weather. Rain was on the radar and the forecast warned that there could be “the chance of a thunderstorm, possibly severe”.
Comprising 9 laps of an 11.6km circuit including the Mount Buninyong Road climb, the race stayed together as the riders passed through the line the first couple of times. Then Courtney Sherwell delivered a dig and set off on a solo sortie, stretching the gap to around a minute at some points.
Tree branches were already swaying in the gusts of wind from the start and then just when rain began roughly halfway through the race and and spectators were scrambling for cover, two key favourites, Gigante and Spratt, attacked out of the peloton and bridged to Sherwell on the climb. There was chaos behind, as riders scrambled to try and link up with such a powerful move, and enough did that to form a group of around 11 by the time they crested the climb.
As the descending began the digs kept coming and the group at the front swelled to closer to 30 and ultimately Hanson, Roseman-Gannon and 2022 winner Nicole Frain (HESS Cycling) jumped out front.
Once the riders started to head uphill again after crossing the line with three laps to go, U23 rider Neve Bradbury (Canyon-SRAM), Gigante and Spratt joined the lead group and made it a break of six up by the top of the hill. As the rain continued to fall, the group swelled after the climb and another move was formed, with Georgia Baker (Liv-AlUla-Jayco), Hanson and Roseman-Gannon.
Then on the final lap, and with yet another shuffling of the deck, it was Gigante, Spratt and Roseman-Gannon who looked like they would decide the race between them. But a determined chase brought it down to a sprint of 11, and Roseman-Gannon made her final leap to the front right when it counted.
The combined U23 and elite women's road race was the second last event of the 2024 Australian Road World Championships which has been held in and around Ballarat for nearly two decades, but will head elsewhere in 2025.
This year could also mark the last year that the U23 road title is decided within a combined race, with AusCycling saying that the category could get its own stand-alone competition as soon as 2025.
Get unlimited access to all of our coverage of the Tour Down Under and Women’s Tour Down Under, including reporting from Australia, breaking news and analysis. Find out more.
Results powered by FirstCycling
