Home stars shine for Mitchelton
Mitchelton-Scott used home advantage to their favour to dominate in Australia, with Amanda Spratt and Lucy Kennedy never finishing outside the top three at the Tour Down Under, Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race and Herald Sun Tour.
The three Australian races that kick off the women’s season have tended to be dominated by home riders – four of the six TDU winners and both Herald Sun Tour winners have been local. Many women’s teams shun travelling across the world to start their season, due to the cost and acclimatisation needed to adjust to the blazing summer heat. But while the advantage may be with the native riders and teams based there during Christmas, Mitchelton still faced strong rivals in the new Trek-Segafredo team – keen to make an early impact - Alé Cipollini and CCC-Liv.
The Australian Nationals were a good indication of Spratt and Kennedy’s form, with Kennedy active on the front in the road race to set up Spratt, who went on to come second. At the TDU, when Spratt took the race lead with a solo win on stage 2, Kennedy was so strong she attacked behind her to ensure they took the top two spots on GC. A day later, on the drag up to Stirling, team-mate Grace Brown won, leaving Spratt and Kennedy to safely finish in the bunch on the final stage, to secure the race one-two, and give Spratt her third TDU title in a row.
A week later, Kennedy and Spratt joined forces at the Cadel Evans road race. Cuban sprinter Arlenis Sierra of Astana got the better of the duo, escaping near the finish, but the Australian pair still took the two podium places more than 15 seconds ahead of their next rivals. More of the same came at the Herald Sun Tour. On stage 2’s hilltop finish, Spratt and Kennedy tag-teamed attacks to drop defending champion Brodie Chapman. Kennedy escaped as Spratt marked Chapman, taking the stage and GC wins, with Spratt finishing second 39 seconds back. Two GC wins, three stage wins and four podiums: Mitchelton-Scott started 2019 as the team in form.