Women's Tour Down Under: Ally Wollaston sprints to stage 1 victory

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Stage 1 of the 2024 Women's Tour Down Under was won by Ally Wollaston (AG Insurance - Soudal). 

The New Zealander came around Georgia Baker (Liv AlUla Jayco) in the final 50 meters of the mass sprint to claim her first World Tour win. Sofia Bertizzolo (UAE Team ADQ) rounded out the podium.

The opening day of the 2024 Women’s World Tour season came down to a battle of the fast-finishers and their sprint trains. The twisting, frenetic closing kilometres made for a tricky finale. Wollaston was quick to praise her teammates for their positioning work.

“I’m just really proud,” the 23-year-old said. “The girls rode amazing today. I can’t thank them enough for the work they did today.”

“I’m not usually super confident in the bunch, so I struggled quite a lot. But these girls looked after me so well. We had a plan to stick to the right-hand side and just commit to the finish, and we did exactly that, and we couldn’t have done it any better.”

Wollaston’s win means that she moves into the first leader’s ochre jersey of the race. With tougher stages to come, she is not expecting to hold onto it for the whole race.

“We’ve got a pretty big powerhouse of a team this week. Sarah [Gigante] is our little pocket rocket, so we’re targeting Sunday for her. But for tomorrow, we will just try to hold onto the jersey for as long as possible and see what happens.”

How it Unfolded

The first day of the 2024 Women's World Tour began in the historic village of Hahndorf. Before the riders rolled off the start-line, they observed a one-minute silence in memory of Melissa Dennis (née Hoskins) who sadly lost her life two weeks prior. 

The opening stage of this year's Women's Tour Down Under was the easiest of the race on paper, promising the best opportunity for a big bunch sprint over the three stages.

The 93.9km route took the riders on an initial loop which included the first intermediate sprint of the day in Echunga after 12km. Maximum points and a potentially crucial three bonus seconds were taken by new Australian national champion Ruby Roseman-Gannon (Liv AlUla Jayco), ahead of teammate Georgia Baker and Dominika Wlodarczyk (UAE Team ADQ). It was an initial indication of those who intend to fight for the ochre jersey when the race finishes atop Willunga Hill on Sunday.

As soon as the sprint point was passed, the breakaway forged clear. Matilda Raynolds (Bridgelane) kicked things off, with Katia Ragusa (Human Powered Health) and India Grangier (Coop-Repsol) joining her. Kate Richardson (Lifeplus Wahoo) endured a long and pained effort to bridge the gap.

The first Queen of the Mountain, Hawthorn Climb, was taken by Ragusa before the route took the riders north through Hahndorf again. 

The group became a quartet as Richardson finally joined the lead with 56km to go. As the breakaway's advantage approached four minutes, Liv AlUla Jayco began to chase in the peloton with more intensity and the gap started to tumble. 

Ragusa looked intent to get something from the day. The Paris Roubaix 2023 runner-up won the second sprint and maximum points on the Kenton Valley climb to secure the jersey for the best climber. 

After the breakaway crested the final climb, Raynolds went solo. Using the twisty, gradually descending roads to her advantage, the 36-year-old resisted the peloton until eight kilometres before the finish line.

AG Insurance-Soudal, Liv AlUla Jayco and Lidl-Trek then jostled for prime position in preparation for the sprint.

The Australian team looked to have positioned Baker perfectly, but Wollaston was sitting on Baker’s back wheel and had the strength to come around her and take the biggest win of her career so far.

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