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Welcome to Cyclingnews’ live coverage of the third and final stage of the Women’s Tour Down Under.
Stage 2 winner Cecilia Uttrup Ludwig (FDJ-Suez) tops the general classification with a 2-second lead on Sofia Bertizzolo (UAE Team ADQ) and 3 seconds on Ruby Roseman-Gannon (Liv AlUla Jayco). Tight GC with 25 riders all within 10 seconds of the leader.
Stage 3 of the Women’s Tour Down Under is set to start in just under 10 minutes. Starting in Adelaide, the 93km stage heads towards the coast to deliver the final challenge, the famous Willunga Hill, a 3km climb with an average gradient of 7.4% and a maximum of 15.6%
When asked what she thought of the ascent of Willunga Hill, Uttrup Ludwig’s response was a grinning ”I like it.” Read more in our analysis – All to play for on Willunga Hill finale at the Women’s Tour Down Under.
We’re just moments away from the neutral roll out for the third and final stage for the 85 riders in the peloton.
The riders are rolling through the 7km neutral section on their way to the official start. Today’s forecast high is 30 degrees Celsius under cloudy skies. Winds are up, which could make things interesting as the race hits the coast with about 20km to go before heading back inland to take on Willunga Hill.
One rider to watch today is Sarah Gigante (AG Insurance-Soudal). The Australian holds the record for the fastest ascent of Willunga and put in a scorching performance to win with a margin of more than a minute at Santos Festival of Cycling domestic event in 2021 on the climb.
Read more on Gigante in her interview with Cyclingnews Australia editor Simone Giuliani.
Flag drop by race director Stuart O’Grady and we’re out of the neutral zone and racing has started!
That didn’t take long. First attack by Amanda Poulsen (BridgeLane). She’s joined by Katia Ragusa (Human Powered Health)
The road goes up from the start, with the first QOM only 3.8km into the stage, the cat 1 climb at Windy Point with an average gradient of 6% and a max gradient of 20%.
Poulsen and Ragusa are joined by Sophie Edwards (ARA – Slip Capital), Stine Dale (Coop-Repsol) and Karin Söderqvist (Lifeplus Wahoo) but the peloton…
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