Mum Corset takes out national title

Ruth Corset (Tibco) broke away with just over a lap remaining to claim a solo victory in the Australian Women’s Road Championship race. Corset kept her head down all the way to the finish, not celebrating until well after she had crossed the finish line for one final time.

“I wanted this more than anything, it’s been my goal for a while and I’m just so glad, so glad that I got it finally,” said Corset. “It was quite hot so it was very, very hard conditions. I’m from Townsville and it’s quite humid there, so I’m not as used to the dry heat.

“The last few laps I was just throwing up and couldn’t hold anything down,” she added. “The last lap was just so hard my legs were cramping but I just gritted my teeth and went for it.”

Behind her Bridie O’Donnell attacked breakaway mates Judith Arndt and Rachel Neylan until her fellow Australian was dropped off the back. As O’Donnell powered down the home straight, Germany’s Arndt showed her class by not challenging her in a two-up sprint, instead sitting on and allowing O’Donnell to claim silver.

“This is really the reward of my hard work and all the hard work of the great people that I have helping me out,” said O’Donnell. “I think that’s been my other problem in the past, I can’t hold my nerves long enough so I want to go and I don’t wait for the race to unfold. Today my biggest job was to let the race unfold. I had no teammates here to I just wanted to see who would do the work, try to hold my nerve then be as aggressive as possible."

O’Donnell described the efforts of Arndt not to play a roll in the race outcome over the final laps as being behaviour of a consummate professional. “To her credit, when I caught up to her and Rachel she then sat behind the two of us,” said O’Donnell. “When I attacked Rachel, she sat behind Rachel, she didn’t interfere with any of that. Then when, and this is my understanding, when she could see that Rachel was not going to bridge across to me she then followed my move.”

A seven strong breakaway on the opening lap made it look as if the women’s race would be aggressive from the outset. All that changed however when Arndt stormed from the field, dragging out a large margin of over 2:10 minutes over the peloton.

Arndt was riding tempo up the Buninyong climb, making it look as though the race was hers to take if she wanted it. While some riders had dropped out the rear of the peloton, including Shara Gillow due to a mechanical, it wasn’t until the fifth lap that racing recommenced in earnest.

As the pace was increased a group of around 13 riders slipped away from the front of the peloton in pursuit of Arndt. They included Vicki Whitelaw, O’Donnell, Lisa Jacobs, Sarah Roy, Louise Kerr, Corset, Tiffany Cromwell, Loren Rowney, Megan Dunn, Angela McClure and Peta Mullens.

Neylan attacked the chase group with just over three laps remaining and successfully bridged to Arndt over the following three kilometres. Neylan’s move forced the national jersey contenders to react and with the laps winding down Emma Mackie set-up an attack for her Tibco teammate, Corset, to counter.

Corset joined Arndt and Neylan as they entered the second last lap. Two kilometres later, as the chase group hit the Buninyong climb for the penultimate time, O’Donnell stepped on the accelerator and joined the leaders.

Corset made her move as the race entered it’s final lap, her strength too much for O’Donnell or Neylan to match. While O’Donnell was hurting she could hear Neylan's laboured breathing, so started attacking her compatriot in order to secure a position amongst the medals.

O’Donnell, who claimed two silver medals at this year’s national titles, was emotional when congratulating Corset on her victory. “I must say that I’m really so thrilled that Ruth won,” said O’Donnell. “She’s a wonderful woman, a really classy bike rider. I really respect her and I’m really happy for her and her family that all this hard work has paid off. It’s fantastic for her.” 

Sprint sensation Megan Dunn showed she’s not just a fast finisher by winning the Under-23 women’s national title. Tiffany Cromwell added another silver medal to her collection after finishing runner-up in the division, having done much of the work chasing down Arndt. Queensland’s Loren Rowney finished in third place.

Results

Swipe to scroll horizontally
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Ruth Corset (QLD)3:10:09
2Bridie O'Donnell (VIC)0:00:18
3Judith Arndt (Ger)Row 2 - Cell 2
4Rachel Neylan (SA)0:00:42
5Vicki Whitelaw (ACT)0:01:08
6Amanda Spratt (NSW)0:01:57
7Megan Dunn (NSW)Row 6 - Cell 2
8Joanne Hogan (VIC)Row 7 - Cell 2
9Amber Halliday (SA)0:02:00
10Tiffany Cromwell (SA)Row 9 - Cell 2
11Lisa Jacobs (VIC)0:02:39
12Alexis Rhodes (SA)0:03:20
13Laura Luxford (QLD)0:03:33
14Sarah Roy (NSW)0:04:07
15Loren Rowney (QLD)Row 14 - Cell 2
16Emma Mackie (NSW)0:05:12
17Rebecca Locke (VIC)0:06:06
18Peta Mullens (VIC)Row 17 - Cell 2
19Angela Mcclure (SA)0:09:09
20Stephanie Mcgrath (VIC)Row 19 - Cell 2
21Laura Meadley (ACT)0:09:52
22Irene Digenis (VIC)0:10:02
23Louise Kerr (QLD)0:10:38
24Alexandra Carle (ACT)0:11:31
25Shara Gillow (QLD)0:14:08
26Rebecca Domange (VIC)0:15:35
27Kendelle Hodges (VIC)0:15:44
28Simone Grounds (QLD)0:16:35
29Sarah-Jeanne Fraser (WA)0:17:48
DNFSally Robbins (QLD)Row 29 - Cell 2
DNFIndia Mclean (NSW)Row 30 - Cell 2
DNFRebecca Halliday (WA)Row 31 - Cell 2
DNFAnna Kauffmann (WA)Row 32 - Cell 2
DNFFelicity Wilson (VIC)Row 33 - Cell 2
DNFRachel Rayner (VIC)Row 34 - Cell 2
DNFClare Dallat (VIC)Row 35 - Cell 2
DNFRadele Berriman (VIC)Row 36 - Cell 2
DNFLeigh-Anne Dynon (VIC)Row 37 - Cell 2
DNFKate Finegan (NSW)Row 38 - Cell 2
DNFElizabeth Georgouras (SA)Row 39 - Cell 2
DNFVictoria Luxton (VIC)Row 40 - Cell 2
DNFTracey Gaudry (ACT)Row 41 - Cell 2
DNFSarah Kent (WA)Row 42 - Cell 2
DNFMelissa Hoskins (WA)Row 43 - Cell 2
DNFBeth Canny (VIC)Row 44 - Cell 2
DNFRebecca Henderson (ACT)Row 45 - Cell 2
DNFChloe Hosking (ACT)Row 46 - Cell 2
DNFJasmin Hurikino (QLD)Row 47 - Cell 2
DNFCarly Mccoombe (VIC)Row 48 - Cell 2
DNFRebecca Werner (SA)Row 49 - Cell 2
DNFBronwyn Ryan (ACT)Row 50 - Cell 2
DNFJessie Maclean (ACT)Row 51 - Cell 2
DNFKerry Knowler (ACT)Row 52 - Cell 2
DNFNicole Whitburn (VIC)Row 53 - Cell 2
DNFCarly Light (SA)Row 54 - Cell 2
DNFMerissa Cunningham (QLD)Row 55 - Cell 2
DNFSue Forsyth (NSW)Row 56 - Cell 2
DNFRochelle Gilmore (NSW)Row 57 - Cell 2
DNFNatalie Langer (QLD)Row 58 - Cell 2
DNFJenny Macpherson (VIC)Row 59 - Cell 2
DNFChloe Mcconville (VIC)Row 60 - Cell 2
DNFJodie Willett (MTB)Row 61 - Cell 2
DNFLiz Young (QLD)Row 62 - Cell 2
DNFBelinda Goss (VIC)Row 63 - Cell 2
DNFJosephine Tomic (WA)Row 64 - Cell 2
DNFZoe Appel (QLD)Row 65 - Cell 2
DNFCarlee Taylor (SA)Row 66 - Cell 2
DNFMyfanwy Galloway (ACT)Row 67 - Cell 2
DNFAshlee Ankudinoff (NSW)Row 68 - Cell 2
DNFLauren Kitchen (NSW)Row 69 - Cell 2
DNFChloe Mcintosh (VIC)Row 70 - Cell 2
DNSKathryn Watt (VIC)Row 71 - Cell 2
DNSImogen Vize (NSW)Row 72 - Cell 2
DNSJoanna Somerville (NSW)Row 73 - Cell 2
DNSAmy Bradley (VIC)Row 74 - Cell 2
DNSKirsty Broun (QLD)Row 75 - Cell 2
DNSDavina Summers (WA)Row 76 - Cell 2
DNSSara Vidakovich (HUN)Row 77 - Cell 2
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Under 23
#Rider Name (Country) Team
1Megan Dunn (NSW)
2Tiffany Cromwell (SA)
3Loren Rowney (QLD)
4Peta Mullens (VIC)
5Angela Mcclure (SA)
6Alexandra Carle (ACT)
7Kendelle Hodges (VIC)
DNFSarah Kent (WA)
DNFMelissa Hoskins (WA)
DNFBeth Canny (VIC)
DNFRebecca Henderson (ACT)
DNFChloe Hosking (ACT)
DNFJasmin Hurikino (QLD)
DNFCarly Mccoombe (VIC)
DNFRebecca Werner (SA)
DNFJosephine Tomic (WA)
DNFZoe Appel (QLD)
DNFCarlee Taylor (SA)
DNFMyfanwy Galloway (ACT)
DNFAshlee Ankudinoff (NSW)
DNFLauren Kitchen (NSW)
DNFChloe Mcintosh (VIC)
DNSSara Vidakovich (HUN)

 

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