Gilmore grabs the ascendancy in Bathurst

Commonwealth Games gold medallist Rochelle Gilmore of Australia beat a talented, international field to win the first race of the Honda Insight Women's International Grand Prix Series in Bathurst. Russian Evgenia Romanuta finished second ahead of Australian Kate Bates in third.

Gilmore was thrilled with her performance and the support of her Honda Dream Team which led her to victory.

"It's a really great feeling to have won the first stage of the Honda Insight Women's International Grand Prix here in Bathurst," said Gilmore. "It's a perfect night, the track was fast and we had a nice hard surface to race on."

"The team had a lot of confidence, everyone felt fantastic throughout the race and when it came to the business end, we just pulled it all back together and executed the sprint exactly as we had practiced earlier in the day.

Gilmore commented that the next four races in the series would be increasingly challenging for her and her team. "It's going to get harder and harder. The other riders are out there to beat us now, so they'll throw everything they've got at us and we'll have to stay very alert during the races and not leave anything to chance.

The Honda Insight Women's International Grand Prix Series continues in Parramatta, Gosford and Coogee before finishing in Cronulla on Sunday.

Brief results