An ill-timed crash has cruelled Liv AlUla Jayco's hopes of a morale-boosting win for their organisation at the women's Tour Down Under.
New Zealand sprinter Ally Wollaston won Saturday's stage at Willunga south of Adelaide and has the overall lead, while Italian cyclist Alessia Vigilia was denied when her gutsy 100km solo breakaway was caught with less than 300m left.
Liv AlUla Jayco also had a sharp reminder of the sport's cruelties, only days after their dominating performances in the women's criterium and elite road race at the Australian road championships.
Ruby Roseman-Gannon, who won the criterium title two Fridays ago in Perth, was one of the stage favourites. But with about 2km left, she was caught in a crash that also took out several teammates.
While Georgia Baker was left with a bloodied knee, the injury toll could have been much worse.
"We came into today with a good plan to set Ruby up there for the final," said team boss Jess Allen.
"But this is bike racing.
"When you walk away like this ... it can be a lot worse.
"It's not what you want, but we also have two days ahead and two new opportunities to turn things around."
While the women dominated in Perth, the nationals ended in disaster for their Jayco AlUla teammates.
The men botched the last few kilometres of their elite road race last Sunday after being in a strong position, and Pat Eddy outsprinted Jayco AlUla rider Luke Plapp for the win.
Jayco AlUla have worn plenty of online criticism since the disaster, so a stage win on the first day of the Santos Women's Tour Down Under would have been timely for the wider team.
Instead, Wollaston and her fellow FDJ United-Suez riders were celebrating after an outstanding team performance.
Amber Kraak did a power of work to drive the pace at the front of the peloton and make sure Vigilia's lead did not go over four minutes.
Everyone was mindful of stage one last year, when the sprinters' teams mistimed their chase and Wollaston had to settle for second behind young Dutch rider Daniek Hengeveld.
This time, Vigilia (Uno-X Mobility) just failed to stay clear after 100km on her own at the front and Wollaston finished well ahead of her sprint rivals.
Wollaston heaped praise on her teammates, saying she had "full faith" they would bring back Vigilia in time.
"It means the world - I'm blown away. You can probably see (at) the finish, I wasn't quite expecting that," she said.
"It's a huge confidence boost going into the next few days.''
Wollaston said she was anxious during the stage, given it was her first race of the year, and they were determined to avoid a repeat of last year's stage-one error.
Vigilia was philosophical, saying the first ride for her new team had gone almost perfectly.
"If the race had been 1km shorter, that would have been better, but I'm really happy with performance. For sure, we will try again," she said.
"It's really nice to feel that we work well. It's hard to arrive here and adapt to the jet lag and heat.
"So this is a good sign that we are prepared, and we will show it again."
The 137.4km stage was the longest for the women since they first featured on the Tour Down Under program in 2016.
Much of the racing was along the coast and conditions were calm, with no cross-winds and echelon riding that would have blown the peloton apart.
The three-day women's Tour continues on Sunday with a 130.7km stage from suburban Norwood to Paracombe in the Adelaide Hills.
