Stunning first pro win emotional ride
OTAGO cyclist Ella Harris has won the biggest race of her career and won a lot of hearts in the process.
Harris claimed a stunning victory in the second and final stage of the Women’s Herald Sun Tour.
It was a victory for tenacity as much as anything else.
Despite being dropped multiple times on the final climb, Harris powered past her rivals to claim her first professional win.
The 21yearold was overcome with emotion in a postrace interview.
She delivered a tearful reaction, leaving cycling commentators and fans thrilled with her success.
‘‘It means so much to me — I’ve got so many people to thank,’’ she told SBS interviewer David McKenzie.
‘‘I’m just ecstatic. It’s my first professional win and I’ve been wanting it for so long — it’s awesome.’’
Harris is one of New Zealand’s most promising riders, having last year won the youth category of the Vuelta a Burgos and finished as the secondbest young rider in the Emakumeen Bira and fourth overall in the Colorado Classic.
She is just one of two Kiwis on the Women’s World Tour and has made a good start to the year. She finished 13th in the Tour Down Under and ninth in the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race.
‘‘At TDU and Cadel I felt like I was always so close to getting a result but I didn’t have the legs, and then today, at the start I wasn’t feeling so good, but then as I went on, I kept clawing my way back,’’ she said.
‘‘The bunch, they kept accelerating, and I’ve got zero punch. I kept getting dropped but I kept dieseling my way back on.
‘‘With about 500 metres to go, I felt like I had a bit more power than everyone else, and I actually had that sensation on stage 2 at TDU but I completely got swamped, so I was expecting the same thing to happen again today — but to come across the line in first after getting dropped in the surprise crosswinds yesterday, I can’t believe it.’’
Harris’ emotional interview left renowned SBS commentator Matthew Keenan, who called her victory ‘‘heroic’’, thrilled.
‘‘That was one of the best interviews I have ever seen,’’ Keenan said.
‘‘I loved every bit of it — and I loved the emotion.’’