Rowney outpaces Hogan in final sprint

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Loren Rowney (Lifecycle CC QLD) returned to the Glen Innes to Inverell this year with a hunger to win after finishing third at last year’s race. As she approached the final finishing straight with only Jo Hogan (VIS) on her wheel Rowney knew the odds of taking victory were strong, and that’s exactly what she did after outsprinting the Victorian down the long, flat straight.

“I really wanted to win after last year. I knew I had a good kick,” said Rowney. “Basically we worked really hard together to stay away and then in the last 200 metres it was anyone’s race.

After missing out on the podium last year Simone Grounds (Bundaberg Sugar) went one place better to take third. Grounds finished some 32 seconds behind the leading duo after 112 kilometres of racing.

The Virgin Blue-RBS Morgans women’s squad were keen to stamp its mark on the team’s debut race, controlling the early action in the women’s race. It wasn’t until the first queen of the mountain sprint that a group managed to escape and with Rowney, Hogan and defending champion Lauren Kitchen in it the group posed a serious threat to the peloton.

The trio stayed away for around 10 kilometres before being reeled back in by the peloton. As the race returned to the climb for a second and final time it was Hogan and Rowney that escaped, with the pair staying away for the balance of the race.

“It was a really hard last 20 kilometres because we thought we were going to get caught a couple of times,” said Hogan. “They kept coming back at us but we just kept on going.”

An in-form Rowney had confidence in her sprinting ability over Hogan as they worked together to survive to the finish line. Her confidence proved well founded as she held off Hogan to take victory.

While Hogan missed out on the race victory she didn’t leave Inverell empty handed: claiming the king of the mountains classification victory and also securing her win in Cycling Australia’s women’s National Road Series standings.