Mattis breaks High Road dominance in World Cup opener

Team High Road had dominated the recent Geelong Tour, winning two of the three stages and were the natural favourite for the World Cup race in the same town on Sunday. However, it was the duo of American Katheryn Mattis and Australian Emma Rickards, slipping away after three of the eight laps on the circuit, that made the headlines.

The pair worked well together and entered the final lap with a three-minute lead. Mattis was the first to jump, but eventually the two reached the finishing straight together, where they had enough time to play tactics and even trackstand.

High Road was disappointed with leaving it too late,and were unhappy with the lack of help from other teams. However, other teams were afraid of the sprinting abilities of High Road. And with Ina-Yoko Teutenberg taking third by winning the dash to the line of the peloton coming in, High Road proved that the other teams had a concern for a reason.

Check out Cyclingnews' full report and details on how the first World Cup race of the season unfolded.