Mum Corset takes out national title
Emotional O'Donnell holds off Arndt for second
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
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Ruth Corset (QLD) | 3:10:09 |
2 | Bridie O'Donnell (VIC) | 0:00:18 |
3 | Judith Arndt (Ger) | Row 2 - Cell 2 |
4 | Rachel Neylan (SA) | 0:00:42 |
5 | Vicki Whitelaw (ACT) | 0:01:08 |
6 | Amanda Spratt (NSW) | 0:01:57 |
7 | Megan Dunn (NSW) | Row 6 - Cell 2 |
8 | Joanne Hogan (VIC) | Row 7 - Cell 2 |
9 | Amber Halliday (SA) | 0:02:00 |
10 | Tiffany Cromwell (SA) | Row 9 - Cell 2 |
11 | Lisa Jacobs (VIC) | 0:02:39 |
12 | Alexis Rhodes (SA) | 0:03:20 |
13 | Laura Luxford (QLD) | 0:03:33 |
14 | Sarah Roy (NSW) | 0:04:07 |
15 | Loren Rowney (QLD) | Row 14 - Cell 2 |
16 | Emma Mackie (NSW) | 0:05:12 |
17 | Rebecca Locke (VIC) | 0:06:06 |
18 | Peta Mullens (VIC) | Row 17 - Cell 2 |
19 | Angela Mcclure (SA) | 0:09:09 |
20 | Stephanie Mcgrath (VIC) | Row 19 - Cell 2 |
21 | Laura Meadley (ACT) | 0:09:52 |
22 | Irene Digenis (VIC) | 0:10:02 |
23 | Louise Kerr (QLD) | 0:10:38 |
24 | Alexandra Carle (ACT) | 0:11:31 |
25 | Shara Gillow (QLD) | 0:14:08 |
26 | Rebecca Domange (VIC) | 0:15:35 |
27 | Kendelle Hodges (VIC) | 0:15:44 |
28 | Simone Grounds (QLD) | 0:16:35 |
29 | Sarah-Jeanne Fraser (WA) | 0:17:48 |
DNF | Sally Robbins (QLD) | Row 29 - Cell 2 |
DNF | India Mclean (NSW) | Row 30 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Rebecca Halliday (WA) | Row 31 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Anna Kauffmann (WA) | Row 32 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Felicity Wilson (VIC) | Row 33 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Rachel Rayner (VIC) | Row 34 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Clare Dallat (VIC) | Row 35 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Radele Berriman (VIC) | Row 36 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Leigh-Anne Dynon (VIC) | Row 37 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Kate Finegan (NSW) | Row 38 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Elizabeth Georgouras (SA) | Row 39 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Victoria Luxton (VIC) | Row 40 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Tracey Gaudry (ACT) | Row 41 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Sarah Kent (WA) | Row 42 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Melissa Hoskins (WA) | Row 43 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Beth Canny (VIC) | Row 44 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Rebecca Henderson (ACT) | Row 45 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Chloe Hosking (ACT) | Row 46 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Jasmin Hurikino (QLD) | Row 47 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Carly Mccoombe (VIC) | Row 48 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Rebecca Werner (SA) | Row 49 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Bronwyn Ryan (ACT) | Row 50 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Jessie Maclean (ACT) | Row 51 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Kerry Knowler (ACT) | Row 52 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Nicole Whitburn (VIC) | Row 53 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Carly Light (SA) | Row 54 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Merissa Cunningham (QLD) | Row 55 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Sue Forsyth (NSW) | Row 56 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Rochelle Gilmore (NSW) | Row 57 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Natalie Langer (QLD) | Row 58 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Jenny Macpherson (VIC) | Row 59 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Chloe Mcconville (VIC) | Row 60 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Jodie Willett (MTB) | Row 61 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Liz Young (QLD) | Row 62 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Belinda Goss (VIC) | Row 63 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Josephine Tomic (WA) | Row 64 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Zoe Appel (QLD) | Row 65 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Carlee Taylor (SA) | Row 66 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Myfanwy Galloway (ACT) | Row 67 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Ashlee Ankudinoff (NSW) | Row 68 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Lauren Kitchen (NSW) | Row 69 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Chloe Mcintosh (VIC) | Row 70 - Cell 2 |
DNS | Kathryn Watt (VIC) | Row 71 - Cell 2 |
DNS | Imogen Vize (NSW) | Row 72 - Cell 2 |
DNS | Joanna Somerville (NSW) | Row 73 - Cell 2 |
DNS | Amy Bradley (VIC) | Row 74 - Cell 2 |
DNS | Kirsty Broun (QLD) | Row 75 - Cell 2 |
DNS | Davina Summers (WA) | Row 76 - Cell 2 |
DNS | Sara Vidakovich (HUN) | Row 77 - Cell 2 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team |
---|---|
1 | Megan Dunn (NSW) |
2 | Tiffany Cromwell (SA) |
3 | Loren Rowney (QLD) |
4 | Peta Mullens (VIC) |
5 | Angela Mcclure (SA) |
6 | Alexandra Carle (ACT) |
7 | Kendelle Hodges (VIC) |
DNF | Sarah Kent (WA) |
DNF | Melissa Hoskins (WA) |
DNF | Beth Canny (VIC) |
DNF | Rebecca Henderson (ACT) |
DNF | Chloe Hosking (ACT) |
DNF | Jasmin Hurikino (QLD) |
DNF | Carly Mccoombe (VIC) |
DNF | Rebecca Werner (SA) |
DNF | Josephine Tomic (WA) |
DNF | Zoe Appel (QLD) |
DNF | Carlee Taylor (SA) |
DNF | Myfanwy Galloway (ACT) |
DNF | Ashlee Ankudinoff (NSW) |
DNF | Lauren Kitchen (NSW) |
DNF | Chloe Mcintosh (VIC) |
DNS | Sara Vidakovich (HUN) |

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