Wild wins final stage of Santos Women's Tour

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Spectators lining the barriers in front of the grandstand at Adelaide’s Victoria Park were treated to a world-class sprint on the final stage of the Santos Women’s Tour. Dutchwoman Kirsten Wild (Cylance) took her second win of the four-day tour, outsprinting Australians Nettie Edmondson (Wiggle High5) and Chloe Hosking (Alé Cipollini).

“The last lap was fast,” Wild told Cyclingnews. “With this team, we had so much control the whole race. It was cool to see.”

“We spoke before already, of course, with Manel [Lacambra] our technical person, that we would take the left side in the sprint,” Wild added. “Then in the race, we looked at the wind and we spoke a lot, and we decided to stay left side and go fast through the corners. That really worked.”

Amanda Spratt (Orica-Scott) finished safely in the bunch following the hour-long race to win the overall leader’s ochre jersey that she’s worn since her stage one win.

“There’s a big sense of relief now,” said Spratt. “I’m really, really happy. Again, the team was incredible today. They just had everything covered. They were all saying it was a harder crit this year than last year but for me it was easier. This just shows how much work they did and how much I could sit in and let them do everything for me today.”

Extra excitement came during Tuesday’s circuit race came in the form of an unexpected showdown between Ruth Winder (UnitedHealthcare) and Alexis Ryan (Canyon//SRAM) for the best young rider’s jersey.

Winder started the stage atop the classification with a four second advantage over Ryan. With 3-2-1 bonus seconds up for grabs during the stage four intermediate sprints and another 10-6-4 seconds available on the finish line, Ryan saw an opportunity and seized it.

“I think I caught Ruth off-guard with the first one, but she knew exactly what was up after that,” Ryan told Cyclingnews.

Ryan won three of the four intermediate sprints, scooping up nine seconds, while Winder came second twice to take four seconds. The five second gain put Ryan in the jersey.

“This was the goal,” said Ryan, pointing to the jersey. “And it belongs to the whole team. They did a full-on sprint train for me for every sprint lap.”

How it happened

An exceptionally hot day gave way to a steamy evening for the fourth and final stage of the Santos Women’s Tour. Despite a 6:30 evening start time on Tuesday, the women’s peloton lined up with temperatures hovering around 35C. Riders slipped ice socks down jerseys on the start line as they waited for the gunshot to send them out for what amounted to 34 times around the 1.2-kilometre circuit.

Despite a steady stream of attacks, the women’s peloton stayed together for the entire stage. No rider proved capable of getting more than a 50-metre advantage nor staying away for more than half a lap. Holden and Canyon//SRAM maintained a presence at the front of the peloton during the opening laps while race leader Amanda Spratt remained hidden.

“My job was to sit behind Annemiek [van Vleuten],” said Spratt. “I was her shadow today. I think I did a good job at that. I stayed on her wheel the entire race. The other girls were up there, covering anything if they needed to, bringing it back after the sprints.”

Those sprints came in quick succession in the middle of the race on laps 10, 15, 20 and 25. Both points and bonus seconds came into play in the sprint classification, led by Hosking, the youth rider classification, and the overall. Wild’s third place on general classification become one of the biggest question marks as Ryan scooped up seconds.

“It was a gamble,” said Wild, who opted not to sprint during the race. “I thought when I win the stage, I’m still in the general classification, and if I don’t win the sprint then not. I thought it was a lot of energy for the gamble to stay on the overall podium when I wanted the stage more.”

The Orica-Scott sprint train came to fore with five laps remaining. All six riders lined it out on the front. Spratt sat last wheel.

“We had the train happening at the end to nullify any attacks and put me in a good position for the final,” explained Spratt.

With one lap left, Cylance and Canyon//SRAM took over from Orica-Scott.

“Marta Tagliaferro and Dani King were the last two, but before that we had the whole team,” said Wild. “They closed all the gaps and allowed me to hide as much as possible.”

Ryan, who was brilliant in the intermediate sprints, could not contest the finale.

“I stood up to sprint and nothing happened,” she said. “I think I maybe finished top ten, which is disappointing, but the goal was the jersey, so I’m happy with that.”

Spratt’s overall victory gives Orica-Scott three straight victories in the Australian stage race.

“We love this race,” Spratt said. “We’ve been here at every edition of it, even before it was a UCI race. We like to win here, and I’m happy I was able to do it this year for the team.”

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