Riding her very first race with the Liv AlUla Jayco Continental team, Lucinda Stewart achieved something many of the world’s top cyclists spend their whole career chasing when the 20-year-old swept up not just the U23 women’s title at the AusCycling Road National Championships but also the elite jersey as well.
The Victorian rider’s well-judged sprint from a break of five in the combined National Championships race means that as she says farewell to her life in Australia and hops on a flight from Perth to Girona, she’ll have to fit two gold medals and a set of Australian Championships jerseys into her luggage - something she’ll be wearing all year to bring back fond memories of home and that perfect beginning to the pursuit of life as a professional cyclist.
“I still can't believe it, honestly, I'm just so happy and stoked and pleasantly surprised I was able to pull it off,” Stewart told reporters and AusCycling after the win.
“As an Australian team, it's so special to be able to take the jersey back to Europe.”
Having so recently joined the Liv AlUla Jayco Continental squad - which focuses on rider development - Stewart was racing alongside teammate Mackenzie Coupland. But she also was stepping out as a united front with the WorldTour team, which lined up with defending champion Ruby Roseman-Gannon, Amber Pate and Josie Talbot. Steward also had the former racer Jess Allen as sports director in the team car.
"Honestly, it was so surreal. I was so happy to pull it off. Those last three laps, I talked to Jess [Allen] in the car, and she was like, 'Mate, we believe in you so much.' I was so nervous because I knew I could pull it off, and I just had to wait it out and play it smart. I knew how strong the other girls were, especially Ella (Simpson), since I was teammates with her last year.
"It was good to get that positive reinforcement from the car and the roadside, they had every bit of faith in me. I'm really proud to be able to pull it off for them.”
Her double success was a stark contrast to the position Stewart found herself in last year, nursing injury and unable to race after a training crash left her out of the Australian summer action at a crucial juncture in her development. However, she rebounded quickly, winning the Lochard Energy Warrnambool Women's Cycling Classic on her return before heading off to Europe and quickly adding an international podium to her results tally with third at the lumpy 1.2 ranked Région Pays de la Loire Tour Féminin.
Those results helped her secure her first contract to race in Europe, signing for two years with the Liv AlUla Jayco Continental team.
When Cyclingnews spoke to Stewart in December she outlined her goals for her first season with the new team, highlighting her aim of taking "another step in the right direction". But on day one she has already made a huge leap forward as she adeptly shouldered the responsibility of fighting for the all-important green and gold stripes when it became clear the title winners would come from the early break.
“We spoke about a whole host of scenarios over the past days and one of which was the early breakaway going and staying away. We knew there was a chance, and we wanted representation from any of the riders in our teams," the Liv AlUla Jayco WorldTeam manager Gene Bates said in a statement. "We kept the powder dry with her [Stewart], kept her fresh all day as we knew she was the fastest in the group."
"We were probably a bit surprised by the other teams that let the gap blow out that far and that just played into our hands," added Bates. "We are really pleased to see them pull it off and particularly for Lucinda to see her take this great result in her first road race with us. It is fantastic and beautiful to win the Australian championships as an Australian registered team.”
