Ruby Roseman-Gannon generally starts the season with flying form and has won her first race for three successive years now, but even by her own high standards the performance she delivered at Buninyong on Sunday was something else. It seemed like whenever there was action at the Elite/U23 women’s road race at the Federation University Australian Road National Championships the Liv AlUla Jayco rider was there.
Then even when it came down to a sprint of 11 and despite all her efforts at the front of the race, she still had enough in the tank to claim the title.
“I was just in flow state. I wasn't really thinking,” Roseman-Gannon told reporters after her latest victory. “I think it's hard to get in that state but when you're there, it just happens.”
“I didn't really know what I was thinking, but I kept saying diamonds in the legs to myself ... I felt like I had diamonds in the legs. I don't know. I just had it today.”
There were plenty of moves to follow in the second half of the race, and while being such a constant part of the action may have seemed a way to burn matches before the finale, Roseman-Gannon suggested that this was not necessarily the case in this situation.
“I just tried to be smart with my energy and sometimes being off the front is less energy than trying to follow Sarah Gigante up the climb,” said Roseman-Gannon, referring to the AG Insurance-Soudal rider who won the race in 2019 and was aggressive again this year on Mount Buninyong.
The two Brunswick Cycling Club riders were actually heading into the line together with three-time winner Amanda Spratt (Lidl-Trek) when they were caught and it turned into a sprint of 11 – a game-changing scenario that also worked for Roseman-Gannon given her speed on the line. She came over ahead of Lauretta Hanson (Lidl-Trek), with teammate Alex Manly claiming the final podium spot.
Now the 25-year-old has brought the sought-after elite women’s road race jersey back to Liv AlUla Jayco after an absence of two years, delivering a boost not only for the rider but also her team, the only Australian Women’s WorldTour squad.
"Our DS asked us why we wanted this and Alex has been on the team for a really long time, and she said she notices a difference in the team when we have the jersey, when we bring it to Europe," said Roseman-Gannon.
"I have never been on the team with the jersey, so yeah, it's really, really special."
After the criterium title win the rider from Melbourne commented that while a strong start in Australia gave her a confidence boost, when she went to Europe she was “a little fish in a big pond so even if I am going well it’s not quite so evident. So I’m still working my way up to be a bit of a bigger fish in that pond”.
But with the jersey of an Australian champion now on her back as she sets her sights on her early-season European goals, Roseman-Gannon is starting to look well on her way.
"I really want to target a big Classics block, so I'll do a combination of cobbled Classics and a couple of Ardennes,” said Roseman-Gannon.
“I think it suits my physiology and my riding style and having two years in the peloton [gives me] a bit more confidence to ride the bunch. And now I've got the Australian jersey as well.”
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