Kennedy takes overall Women's Herald Sun Tour title after thrilling finale

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Lucy Kennedy (Mitchelton-Scott) defended her overall Women's Herald Sun Tour title after a thrilling finish to stage 2 at the Falls Creek ski resort on Thursday, with overnight leader Arlenis Sierra (Astana) only dropped by the front group in the final few hundred metres.

Ella Harris – who normally rides for Canyon-SRAM but was racing for the New Zealand National Team at this race – fought her way back after having been dropped multiple times by the leaders to win the stage, with Tibco-SVB's Sarah Gigante taking second place and Kennedy third, which was enough for Kennedy to sew up her second title in a row.

Kennedy won overall by 12 seconds from Jaime Gunning (Specialized Women's Racing), while stage 1 winner Sierra did just enough to finish third overall, 22 seconds back, having started the day with a 10-second buffer over Kennedy.

"With 500 metres to go, no , I didn't think I could shake Arlenis, as she was so strong and followed my every move," said Kennedy at the finish. "But she eventually cracked, and when I saw the two riders in front of me, I knew I'd done enough.

"I was really motivated, and the team was just amazing," she added. "I never felt in trouble, and I was always really calm, and even though we didn't have a full team here, they were really strong, and I just owe a lot of it to them."

How it unfolded

The shortening of the day's second and final stage due to safety concerns about the 30km descent from Falls Creek in the wet weather that arrived at the end of the men's stage meant that riders faced a 45km stage, with the last 30km of that mostly uphill back to Falls Creek.

After the new start in Mount Beauty at the base of the climb, an initial flurry to make the first intermediate sprint, which came just 4km into the shortened stage's initial 15km loop, was won by Pro Racing Sunshine Coast's Alexandra Marin-Wallace. Specialized Women’s Racing’s Kate Perry then attacked soon after, and quickly built up a 45-second lead over the bunch.

Perry took her lead onto the start of the final 30km climb up to Falls Creek, with her advantage hovering around the same 45-second mark for most of the time she was out in front.

Mitchelton-Scott soon took over at the front of the bunch, however, and Perry was caught with 16km to, although by that point, Mitchelton's firepower had been reduced to just Jessica Roberts working at the front for Kennedy, with race leader Sierra sitting comfortably on the defending champion's wheel.

An attack from Roxsolt Attaquer's Bree Wilson with 14km to race gained her an advantage of almost a minute on the climb, but the Australian was brought back well before the finish, and then suffered an unfortunately timed mechanical that took her out of the running for the stage.

Kennedy tried multiple times to shake Sierra as the kilometres ticked down, and with 4km to go there were just seven riders still in contention: Kennedy, Sierra, Justine Barrow (Roxsolt Attaquer), Sarah Gigante (Tibco-SVB), Ale BTC Ljubljana's Anastasiia Chursina, Jaime Gunning (Specialized Women's Racing) and New Zealand's Ella Harris.

Kennedy's continuing attacks served to drop Harris and Barrow each time, but they clawed their way back time and again, and when Kennedy made her final, desperate, successful attack with 400 metres to go, followed by Gigante and Gunning, Harris came from behind a final time and gave it everything she had left to take the stage win from Gigante, Kennedy and Gunning, with the unfortunate Sierra trailing home for fifth place.

"I kept getting dropped, so I just kept dieseling myself back on, and then with about 500 metres to go, I felt like I had a little bit more power than everyone else," said a delighted Harris after taking her first pro win. "To cross the line in first after the surprise crosswinds yesterday, I can't believe it, and it means so much to me. I've got so many people to thank, and I'm just ecstatic.

"To win my first professional race is just crazy. It’s not really a weight off my shoulders, but it's just nice to tick that box," she said. "And it's Waitangi Day as well, so to win on New Zealand's national day in the national kit is pretty cool."

Results

General classification