Grace Brown (FDFJ-SUEZ) has been the most successful Australian rider in the women’s peloton the past two years and always lines up at the Australian Road National Championships with good form on a course that plays to her strengths, but when it comes to Buninyong the top step of the podium just keeps eluding her.
On Sunday, she stepped onto the podium for her fourth year running and took her third second place in a row after winning the sprint from a group of eight which came to the line behind solo rider Brodie Chapman (Trek-Segafredo) and while she was clearly happy to see her former teammate win, there was no question it was a step up from silver that she was looking for, but the winner had something she didn’t and that was a strong team to help her along the way.
“It’s always hard to plan when you’re on your own because you’re basically at the whim of everyone else’s tactics a little bit,” Brown told reporters after the podium presentation. “And I was surprised today that the race sort of didn’t kick off until at least four laps to go. So it was quite tame for the first half of the race, which is sort of nice but also as a solo rider, it makes it difficult because for me I needed a hard race, but I can’t waste energy on lap two to make it hard.”
Then after the action did split the field there was another quandary, with a break of Georgie Howe (Jayco AlUla) and Lauretta Hanson (Trek Segafredo) away in the final laps two of the strongest teams remaining had no incentive to chase, so if Brown didn’t it may well have been race over.
“In the end when there was the breakaway of two with Lauretta and Georgie Howe I thought, well, if I don’t chase this down, there’s no chance that I can win the race. So I took it upon myself because no one else was doing it. Even though I was in a bit more of a vulnerable position, I thought that that was my only chance. So I did that work.
“I hoped that we could keep it a small group into the finish for a sprint.”
It was a hope that didn’t match the reality.
Largely due to the efforts of Brown, Hanson and Howe were reeled back in on the penultimate lap, but then there was a new threat at the front as Chapman launched right near the start of the final lap and that’s when Brown’s chance to turn her second places into a first evaporated.
“Brodie was super strong on that last lap and I was cramping a bit, so I couldn’t do too many sudden movements there,” said Brown. “So I just managed myself…
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