Happy new year to Brodie Chapman, the 2025 Australia time trial champion! Australia's national championships are such an outlier, coming in January, but we really appreciate how much excitement it brings to this quiet corner of the race calendar. (We appreciate the Aussie riders that lose their off-season and time with friends/family as they train for nationals, that's probably tough but kudos to Chapman for a huge 30+ second victory in the ITT, after two years on the podium!
In the elite women's road race, the bunch let a breakaway of five young riders go up the road early. The break immediately got big gap of nearly 5 minutes, and then cooperated together very well. The breakaway was made up of Lucinda Stewart (LivAlUla Jayco Continental), Ella Simpson (St. Michel - Preference Home - Auber93), Cassia Boglio (Pas Racing), Katelyn Nicholson (Butterfields Ziptrak), and Sophia Sammons (Praties Cycling), and they took turns smoothly on the front, while indecision behind hampered the chase.
Eventually, Amanda Spratt (Lidl-Trek) and Amber Pate (LivAlUla Jayco) gave chase, but were still two minutes back when the breakaway came into the final kilometers. Sammons had dropped off, and so the finale was a four-up sprint. Lucinda Stewart was the fastest on the day, edging out Ella Simpson, with Cassia Boglio and Katelyn Nicholson taking third and fourth, respectively. Other teams, particularly Lidl-Trek, had plenty of regrets about how the race played out, and would have liked to had Amanda Spratt or Lauretta Hanson in the finale. But they will definitely learn their lesson and take that into the season.
Looking forward, the UCI Women's World Tour season officially begins this weekend with the Tour Down Under! This year's course includes a double-climb on Willunga Hill, and we can't wait!