Rain won’t dampen Aussies’ shot at world’s best
THE forecast of rain presents a dangerous, but also tantalising, opportunity to the leaders of the Australian women’s team competing in Saturday’s road race at the world cycling championships in Wollongong.
Although six Australian women have won medals over the past quarter of a century, none has ever won gold in the prestigious event, but the rare combination of racing at home and a wet track has opened up the glimmer of hope the drought could be broken.
This year’s Australian team is undoubtedly one of the best and most united ever, but to win gold, they will need to produce something special to finish ahead of the Europeans, particularly the Dutch.
But the heartbeat of the team, Amanda Spratt, believes things are falling into place so this could be the year an Australian finally gets to wear the winner’s rainbow jersey.
“There‘s a lot of excitement in the Australian camp,” she said. .
“I think we‘re going to be competitive, definitely competitive against them.
“I think they will look at our line-up and think, this is a really strong team with four or five riders that can really get into that final.
“We have a really nice balanced group as well … so I think we have a lot of riders who can get there into the final and play the game.”
Playing the game means working as a team and for an Aussie to win the 164km women’s road race, from Helensburgh to Wollongong, that means some riders will have to sacrifice their own chances.
Their job will be to ride head first into the wind when the peloton hugs the Pacific coastline in the first part of the race, allowing the best finishers to tuck in behind them and conserve their energy for the gut-busting 8km climb up Mt Keira then the sprint finish in the city centre which will come after around four hours in the saddle.
Grace Brown, who won silver in the individual time trial and Alex Manly, a bronze medallist in the mixed relay, are Australia’s two main hopes so will get the most protection but 35-year-old Spratt could also be in the mix if the tempo suits.
Like Spratt, her Aussie teammate Brodie Chapman could also figure in the finish along with Brown and Manly, with Georgia Baker, Sarah Roy and Josie Talbot expected to do a lot of the early work up front. But with showers expected, the tricky ride up and down Mt Keira is looming as decisive.
It’s not a big climb by the usual standards of professional road racers but it’s enough to potentially split the peloton – and the steep descent down the slippery streets looms as a white-knuckle ride that will test the skills and nerve of the leading riders.