‘If the race was a kilometre shorter that would have been better’ – After nearly 100km solo Alessia Vigilia caught in sight of line at Women’s Tour Down Under

Alessia Vigilia was steaming toward the Willunga township finish line of stage 1 of the Santos Women’s Tour Down Under on Saturday and with just a few kilometres to go it was touch and go whether this nearly 100km solo effort would be enough for the new UNO-X Mobility rider to clinch her first Women’s WorldTour victory.

The gap was still sitting at around 30 seconds at 4km to go and behind the 26 year old Italian a couple of crashes in the bunch also had the potential to slightly slow momentum. Vigilia kept her head down, soaking up the encouragement from her team on the radio and daring to keep the hope alive.