Nienke Veenhoven (Visma-Lease a Bike) took a narrow victory at the Down Under Criterium ahead of Georgia Baker (Liv Jayco AlUla) by half a bike length after 50 minutes of breathless racing in Adelaide.
The post-Women’s Tour Down Under event played out on a 1.2km circuit at Victoria Park. A 12-rider bunch sprinted it out for the victory after a leading breakaway was caught at the start of the bell lap.
Veenhoven’s Visma-Lease a Bike team worked tirelessly alongside Women’s Tour Down Under overall winner Sarah Gigante (AG Insurance-Soudal) to catch the break led by Nienke Vinke (DSM-Firmenich PostNL) and FDJ-Suez and were rewarded with victory.
Lidl-Trek’s Lauretta Hanson took third with Sofia Bertizzolo (UAE Team ADQ) and Soraya Paladin (Canyon SRAM) rounding out the top five.
Veenhoven has a strong track racing pedigree and took second in the scratch race behind Lorena Wiebes (SD-Worx Protime) at last year’s Dutch national track championships.
The Women’s WorldTour racing at the Tour Down Under finished on Sunday, with Gigante claiming the final stage on top of Willunga and the overall race ahead of Vinke.
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