Image 1 of 5
The Bright Brewery Tour of Bright may have a 30-year history, but after one day of racing it is clear that this is an edition of the race that will not be easily forgotten. The WorldTour professionals of Luke Plapp and Sarah Gigante made an attention grabbing mark on the Victorian Road Series race on the first day of two, but the domestically based riders also claimed time in the spotlight.
The Australian race nestled among the mountains of Victoria’s high country drew a packed field this year, with a sprinkling of returning WorldTour professionals, joining a powerful domestic field. They are all reaching toward top form as the Australian Road National Championships approach at the start of January, playing out just before the WorldTour and Women’s WorldTour season opener, the Tour Down Under.
The racing started in the Alpine tourism centre of Bright on Saturday morning with a 93km road stage sweeping over the Happy Valley Road climb and finishing at the top of the popular Tawonga Gap ascent, which delivers an eight kilometre climb with an average gradient of 6.3%. Both Plapp and Gigante were fastest up the finishing ascent, and in the process changed the very top spots on the Strava leaderboard for the segment for the first time since 2019 and 2016.
Gigante claimed a time on the Tawonga Gap East segment of 22:44, as she raced toward the opening stage win, taking victory in the damp weather and delivering a promising sign of a return to powerful form on home soil for a rider, who has had to grapple with two seasons plagued by injury and illness.
The Movistar rider won with a margin of 1:16 to her nearest rival, mountain biker Kathryn McInerny. After that it was the ARA-Skip Capital duo of 18-year-old Sophie Marr and 19-year-old Lucinda Stewart at 1:54 back with Justine Barrow (Roxsolt Liv SRAM) – who came second on the same stage last year but had the fastest time up the climb – a further three…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at CyclingNews RSS Feed…