‘I’m really struggling’ was the message Ally Wollaston was putting out to her teammates as the race hit the first run up the crucial climb of Challambra Crescent for the first time at the women’s Mapei Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race.
The rider from New Zealand may have just swept up two out of the three stage wins up for grabs at the Santos Tour Down Under and be entering the race in Geelong as defending champion, but she wasn’t exactly brimming with optimism over her chances of becoming the first rider to win two editions of the race.
“After Tour Down Under, I struggled a little bit with sickness… so, yeah, I wasn’t hugely confident going into today. I knew I could get over Challambra on a really good day, and I had no idea whether that day would be today or not,” she told reporters after the podium ceremony.
It also wasn’t just the belief that was strong, as while things certainly didn’t get any easier on the second lap with Wollaston unhitched on Challambra – around 10km from the line – and the attacks also on the Melville Avenue climb – at 5km to the finish.
That good chance quickly turned into a huge victory celebration, the “F… yeah” winning exclamation of last year seemingly revived in the heat of the moment.
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at CyclingNews RSS Feed…