Maggie Coles-Lyster (Human Powered Health) sprinted to victory at the Tour Down Under Vanguard Women's One-Day Race in Tanunda, powering from out of a reduced bunch after there were multiple crashes in the final kilometres.
Noemi Rüegg (EF Education-Oatly), the winner of the three-day Women's WorldTour event that concluded on Monday, took second in the ProSeries race, with Marta Lach (SD Worx-Protime) third in the South Australia 94.2 km event.
"This is insane, it's really just sinking in," a surprised Coles-Lyster told broadcaster Seven, after falling with two laps to go, working her way back to the peloton, and finally clinching an adrenaline-fuelled win.
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"This was for sure raced more like a criterium and I mean, that's what I grew up racing. So I felt like this is my kind of happy place out there, this kind of fast circuit race, lots of attacks. It was really punchy."
There were splits in the crosswinds, attacks and a solo effort by Tour Down Under stage 1 breakaway Alessia Vigilia (UNO-X Mobility), caught with just 4km to go. Finally, though, the bunch could ready for the sprint to the line in Tanunda on the final day of racing for women in South Australia at this year's event.
Even then it wasn't smooth sailing with a handful of riders falling at just under 2km to go, and in the next kilometre there was another crash closer to the front of the bunch, which thinned the group contesting the sprint.
How it Unfolded
The peloton lined up in Tanunda to take on a course which traversed 12 laps of a 7.9km circuit in the Barossa wine region. Warming conditions greeted the riders of the ProSeries event which started mid-afternoon on the same start and finish line that had hosted the men's Tour Down Under stage 1 hours earlier.
Riders were fronting up to a relatively flat course – a stark contrast to the closing day of racing at the Women's Tour Down Under on Monday – with just 653m of elevation gain over the 94.2km of racing.
There were some riders missing from the start line, including an unwell Ally Wollaston (FDJ United-SUEZ), who would have been a clear favourite if she had started, given the way she demolished her rivals on stages 1 and 2 of the Women's WorldTour race.
Australian champion Mackenzie Coupland (Liv AlUla Jayco) and Loes Adegeest (Lidl-Trek) took off in the early break but that was reeled in at just under 85km to go. Then the next went, in the form of Alyssa Polites of the ARA Australian Cycling Team.
Her effort, too, was shut down but the pursuit caused a brief split, foreshadowing that the peloton would have to be alert to the crosswinds in the coming laps.
By lap 4 there was a split of a dozen riders from a wide mix of teams that got some solid ground, including Fien Van Eynde (Fenix Premier Tech), Nina Buijsman (Human Powered Health), Nicole Steigenga (AG Insurance Soudal), Lauretta Hanson (Lidl-Trek), Lauren Dickson (FDJ United-SUEZ), Josie Talbot (Liv AlUla Jayco), Alessia Vigilia (UNO-X Mobility), Rosita Reijnhout (Visma-Lease a Bike), Julia Kopecky (SD Worx), Paula Ostiz (Movistar), Henrietta Christie (EF Education-Oatly) and Justyna Czapla (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto).
Still with Picnic PostNL – which had a strong contender in the form of Josie Nelson – missing out, they assembled on the front to close the gap, and then they also later got some help from UAE Team ADQ, which shut it down at around 56km to go.
It wasn't long before another split occurred, but it too was hauled back in, with the pattern continuing through the following laps. By lap nine of the 12, Vigilia – who went solo for around 100km on stage 1 of the Women's Tour Down Under – had a solid gap with a solo stint at the front, though she had been hoping for company this time.
"When I saw that I was alone, I was - Oh no, here we go again - but I mean, I also like to time trial, so at one point I was like - Okay, I will just try to give it my best," said Vigilia after the podium presentation.
She maintained the gap into the next lap and even held on through to the ringing of the bell to signal the final run through of the circuit, holding a 20-second gap as she headed into the last 8km of racing. Still, it was tough going in the windy conditions for a solo rider, and the UNO-X Mobility rider was caught with just over 4km to go.
A chaotic battle ensued in the group to set up for the sprint, though the leading bunch ended up being just 15-strong as crashes carved down the bunch on the run-in to the line.
