Four years ago when the peloton rolled out from Hahndorf on the first stage of the Women’s Tour Down Under, Matilda Raynolds managed to blast through to take the final spot on the podium in a bunch sprint. However, this year when the peloton rolled out from the South Australian village, the BridgeLane rider took an entirely different approach and for a while ‘dared to dream’ that the top step of a WorldTour podium could even be her reward.
“It wasn’t planned to go off the front but I was there and it’s an age old play book – you attack after the first prime,” Raynolds told reporters after stage 1. “I got a gap straight away and they sat up and I was on my way.
“I was going to make them work for it. When they don’t chase you down it’s a bit of an insult, so I was going to make them work for it all day,” added Raynolds with a chuckle.
First Raynolds had company out the front, a group of three with India Grangier (Coop-Repsol) and Katie Ragusa (Human Powered Health) that turned into a group of four when chaser Kate Richardson (LifePlus Wahoo) made the catch. But then after the second round of Queen of the Mountain points at around 36km to go the in the opening stage of the Women’s Tour Down Under, the Australian rider who now lives in New Zealand decided it was time to launch.
“I just sat off them in that QOM and watched them and just as soon as they sat up smashed them over the top,” said Raynolds. “At that point you are just head down and it is awful in that heat, just awful.”
Raynolds, a two time winner of the long-range Melbourne to Warrnambool who also recently added a win at the gravel Dirty Warrny to her results list, needed every bit of heat preparation she had done in the run up, with temperatures reaching 37.2 °C and ice vests a popular add on to rider jerseys pre-race.
“It felt like there was a headwind the entire way, honestly if you have ever turned up an oven with the fan turned up as high as possible … it was just like a furnace through that gorge there, it was hot.”
Though Raynolds – who was actually riding a spare bike without data due to an early mechanical – is always one to embrace tough conditions.
“I was breathing through every orifice I had and I was just cooking and you know you are gone, you blow up ten times and go again,” said Raynolds. “I actually enjoy being out by myself or [with] one other and just going hard because I do do a lot better longer. I actually felt better and better as…
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