Grace Brown (FDFJ-SUEZ) has been the most successful Australian rider in the women’s peloton the past two years and always lines up at the Australian Road National Championships with good form on a course that plays to her strengths, but when it comes to Buninyong the top step of the podium just keeps eluding her.
On Sunday, she stepped onto the podium for her fourth year running and took her third second place in a row after winning the sprint from a group of eight which came to the line behind solo rider Brodie Chapman (Trek-Segafredo) and while she was clearly happy to see her former teammate win, there was no question it was a step up from silver that she was looking for, but the winner had something she didn’t and that was a strong team to help her along the way.
“It's always hard to plan when you're on your own because you're basically at the whim of everyone else's tactics a little bit,” Brown told reporters after the podium presentation. “And I was surprised today that the race sort of didn't kick off until at least four laps to go. So it was quite tame for the first half of the race, which is sort of nice but also as a solo rider, it makes it difficult because for me I needed a hard race, but I can't waste energy on lap two to make it hard.”
Then after the action did split the field there was another quandary, with a break of Georgie Howe (Jayco AlUla) and Lauretta Hanson (Trek Segafredo) away in the final laps two of the strongest teams remaining had no incentive to chase, so if Brown didn’t it may well have been race over.
“In the end when there was the breakaway of two with Lauretta and Georgie Howe I thought, well, if I don't chase this down, there's no chance that I can win the race. So I took it upon myself because no one else was doing it. Even though I was in a bit more of a vulnerable position, I thought that that was my only chance. So I did that work.
“I hoped that we could keep it a small group into the finish for a sprint.”
It was a hope that didn't match the reality.
Largely due to the efforts of Brown, Hanson and Howe were reeled back in on the penultimate lap, but then there was a new threat at the front as Chapman launched right near the start of the final lap and that’s when Brown’s chance to turn her second places into a first evaporated.
“Brodie was super strong on that last lap and I was cramping a bit, so I couldn't do too many sudden movements there,” said Brown. “So I just managed myself and, and I went for the sprint for second.”
But if Brown had to come second again, you got the feeling that there was no rider she would rather end up standing on the podium next to. The FDJ-SUEZ-Futuroscope rider was ever so quick to congratulate Chapman, who she had called a teammate up until the end of 2022, her face beaming with excitement for Chapman rather than washed over with the disappointment of missing the top step.
“Part of me was very happy for Brodie to win, she's been a great team-mate for me in the past, so I'm super happy that she's got the jersey this year and I think she's going to honour it a lot over in Europe,” Brown said graciously. “I think it's a great result for Australia.”
Brown may have not captured the green and gold striped jersey on the road but the time trial, where she has twice claimed the top step, is still ahead on Tuesday. However, despite being defending national champion and a World Championship silver medallist in the discipline she is not expecting it to be any easy victory.
“We actually have a really strong field this year and Georgie Howe in particular is a bit of an unknown,” said Brown. “I know that she's very strong and she came fourth last year, but I think she's learned a lot in the past year and refined her time trial skills so I'm not expecting to win without a bit of a fight.”
