Ally Wollaston (FDJ-Suez) was definitely one of the key riders that her rivals didn’t want hanging in with the lead group on the final climb of Challambra Crescent, because as sprinters go, there was little doubt about her prowess. It turns out though, that the rider from New Zealand is "not just a sprinter."
The 24-year-old had already fired a warning shot for the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race at the Surf Coast Classic, seemingly not in the least troubled by the brutal 10km starting climb, so there was definitely a warranted wariness among her rivals.
"Of course, I was hoping that we would drop her in the climb, but when I saw her hiding already the first time in the climbs, I say, 'Wow, she's in a good situation, like she has good legs'," said second-placed Karlijn Swinkels (UAE Team ADQ).
"Then luckily, we had two riders into the first group of 15 riders so we let Dominika [Włodarczyk] attack in the last punchy climb to try to drop Ally. Instead, Ally was so strong that she could hang on.
"Then it was a gamble in the final for me for the podium. Of course, I was hoping that I could beat Ally in the sprint but with the shape I see she is in this moment, I'm also happy to be second."
Wollaston may have seemed unbeatable but she actually entered the day as plan B. Her new team for 2025, FDJ-Suez, however, were in the ideal position when they got both plan A, Elise Chabbey, and plan B in the lead group out the front of the race as well as Amber Kraak.
"I really felt in the team a real collective buy-in today, the same as the Surf Coast Classic, we were all really motivated today and today suited us really well as a team," Wollaston told reporters in Geelong after stepping off the foreshore podium.
"I think to have three girls make it over the second time in the climb in the top 10 was pretty special and I knew in that moment that we had a really good chance of winning today."
The results have been a step up from the Women's Tour Down Under in South Australia where the team, as Wollaston put it, "didn't get bad results but we just didn't quite get the results that we wanted."
Wollaston’s sprint form was clearly in gear when she won the bunch sprint on stage 1 but had to settle for second as a solo break had already taken the victory and Chabbey was fifth overall. But it has been all aces for Wollaston in Victoria, starting with the Surf Coast Classic win and ending with a victory in Geelong that delivered the track and road rider her first one-day WorldTour race victory.
"I knew that on a good day, this is a really good race for me," said Wollaston of the event where sprinters are often knocked out of contention by the challenge of the Challambra climb on the two runs of the finishing circuit.
"I think I've tried really hard, actually, in previous years to not pigeon-hole myself into being just a sprinter and I think today proves that I'm not just a sprinter.
"I don't particularly enjoy hectic bunch sprints, so if I can figure out a way to be the strongest sprinter at the end of a really hard race, it's the kind of rider that I hope to be in the future. I think today was a step in the right direction, for sure."
