Amanda Spratt solos to victory on Santos Women's Tour stage one

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Amanda Spratt (Orica-Scott) launched what proved to be the race winning move with 10 kilometres remaining on the opening stage of the Santos Women's Tour. The Australian's attack was marked first by New Zealander Rushlee Buchanan (UnitedHealthcare) and then Dutchwoman Janneke Ensing (Alé Cipollini), but Spratt hit the three kilometre mark alone to solo to stage one victory in Meadows, a small town in the Adelaide Hills.

"It's a dream start," Spratt told Cyclingnews before podium presentations. "We've come here to win the overall, and we've got a stage win now as well.

"We didn't care who [in the team] got away as long as it was a move where we knew that person could get to the finish, win the stage and look good for the overall – all those factors," Spratt added. "That was the biggest goal for the team today, and I obviously I got away here."

The sting in the tail to the hilly finale of the 106.5-kilometre opening stage was the QOM on Paris Creek Road. The climb, 700-metres long with an 11 percent gradient, topped off just four kilometres from the end of the race and was expected to be decisive.

Spratt attacked on the undulating hills that served as a prelude to the steepest kicker. Her move was part of a pre-mediated Orica-Scott assault on the stage one finale.

"We were hoping for a little more wind," admitted Spratt. "We thought with 30-kilomtres to go we could put it in [the gutter] in the crosswinds. As it happened, there wasn't enough to do that, so we committed to our plan at 18-kilometres.

"Everyone was really committed to that plan, which was great," Spratt added. "We were attacking like crazy for the last 18-kilometres until something got away, which was me."

The peloton split into four distinct groups as the road rose, the pace picked up, and the attacks came thick and fast from Orica-Scott

"I was with Rushlee when I first got away," said Spratt. "We were rolling turns. I could tell she was suffering a little bit.

"Then Janneke, she was really strong coming across," Spratt added. "As soon as she got there, Janneke and I were working and Rushlee was sitting on, and then [Rushlee] got dropped. She was really suffering. Janneke and I were still working together."

On the steep slopes of the QOM climb, Spratt tested Ensing.

"She's quite a strong sprinter, and I wasn't really keen to take her to the finish line," Spratt explained. "She got back on on the downhill, and then I knew I had to attack her from the bottom of the final climb. That's what I did. I got a gap, and just threw everything I had at it all the way to the finish line."

Grimacing as she raised her hands in the air to celebrate, Spratt stopped the clock 19-seconds before Ensing reached the finish.

"That was probably the most painful last five kilometres I've ever done," said Spratt. "[Sport director] Gene [Bates], in the team meeting last night, he said to us, you know the number one goal is to win the stage and win with enough time to have a buffer for the overall. That's the best case scenario.

"I won solo, and I'm not sure how much time I've got but I hope it's enough," added Spratt, who had yet to see results at the time of this interview. "You know, there's not time bonuses in the road stages, only in the criteriums, which is a bit different. That's why we wanted to get a buffer as well."

How it Happened

The third edition of the Santo's Women's Tour began in Hanhndorf, Australia's oldest surviving German settlement. Eight UCI teams were amongst the 17-team, 102-rider start list.

The opening half of the race proved relatively quiet with the first attack coming from Kate Perry of Specialized Women's Racing just beyond the 20-kilometre mark. Orica-Scott controlled the chase, allowing Perry a 15-second gap, before closing in on her as the race hit a climb.

Chloe Hosking (Alé Cipollini) won the intermediate sprint from Susanna Zorzi (Drops Cycling) and Lauren Kitchen (NSWIS Sydney Uni).

The intermediate sprint doubled as the first passage of the finish line and allowed the peloton a preview of the last three kilometres of the stage.

A handful of attacks followed but none had staying power. Orica-Scott assumed responsibility for controlling the chase.

"We probably did feel the pressure a little," noted Spratt. "We've had a really successful start to the season – our best ever. We knew the eyes would be on us. If a break needed to come back, it would be us that needed to do that, so that was also part of the plan to not be in a situation where we had to do a lot of work when it wasn't necessary. I think we did a good job with that."

Thirty kilometres from the finish, Orica-Scott flexed muscles at the head of the peloton with newly crowned Australian criterium Jessica Allen the first to take up the charge. Double Australian champion – road and time trial – Katrin Garfoot took over from Allen with Spratt offering assistance.

Lucy Bechtel (Specialized Women) and Beth Ann Orton (Hagens Berman Supermint) slipped away from the Orica-Scott stranglehold and gained 20-seconds it what was likely the day's longest breakaway before the finale.

A reduced peloton swallowed up the duo with 12-kilometres remaining.

Garfoot countered the breakaway's catch and fractured the peloton permanently. She was caught by a 30-rider group but jumped for a second time, setting the scene for Spratt's surge.

First Spratt and Buchanan, and then Spratt and Ensing, led the race with an animated chase group in their wake.

"Rushlee was away with Spratty," said Katie Hall (UnitedHealthcare), who ultimately rounded out the stage podium. "When Rush got dropped out of that group, we could see her. We were about to catch her with maybe 500 metres to the top of the QOM.

"On the descent, somebody attacked and Ruth [Winder] went with that person," Hall explained. "Then somebody from Drops attacked, and I followed that. When we caught Ruth and the other rider, I didn't know who she was, I attacked straight away."

Hall just managed to hold her advantage over the peloton all the way to line. The American rounded out the podium at 59-seconds with Alexis Ryan (Canyon//SRAM) outsprinting Dani King (Cylance) for best of the rest. Ryan earned the best young rider's jersey for her efforts.

"We'll talk about it tonight, but I'd say the jersey isn't a goal," said Ryan. "We want to win a stage."

The Santos Women's Tour continues on Sunday with a stage two criterium in East End, Adelaide. The race is held on the same course as the People's Choice Classic and begins 90 minutes earlier. Bonus seconds come into play on Sunday with 3-2-1 seconds on offer for the intermediates sprints and 10-6-4 seconds for the top three on the stage.  

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