Lucinda Stewart kicked off her career with the Liv AlUla Jayco Continental team in fine style as she swept up the elite and U23 women's road race titles at the AusCycling Road National Championships in Perth on Sunday.
The 20-year-old emerged victorious from a break of five that clipped away early on, making the most of her powerful sprint to beat Ella Simpson (St Michel - Preference Home - Auber93) on the line of the 109km race.
Local gravel-focused rider Cassia Boglio (Pas Racing) then captured the third spot on a winners' podium framed by spectacular city and waterside views.
"I’m so happy," a breathless Stewart said in the post-race interview on broadcaster SBS after being heartily congratulated by Amber Pate, who rushed toward her with shouts of "I knew you could" as she dived in to give her new Liv AlUla Jayco teammate an embrace.
"I don’t know what to say, I just feel so much pride in these [Liv AlUla Jayco] colours. I look up to these girls, my teammates so, so much, and have so much respect for them. I knew how strong they are and to be the only one in the break for my team - I knew I had to pull it off and there was no other option."
Katelyn Nicholson (Butterfields Ziptrak) was fourth while the final rider from the break over the line was Sophia Sammons (Praties Cycling). Her fifth place overall also allowed Sammons to claim second in the U23 category while tenth placed rider Alyssa Polites (Meridian Blue Cycling p/b 99 Bikes) took the third and final spot in the U23 category.
The last time a rider swept up both titles in the combined race was when Sarah Gigante took the win in 2019, in her first year out of the junior ranks in Buninyong.
How it unfolded
Riders lined up in Kings Park with the normal nerves of a National Championships perhaps amped up by the added unknown factor of the change of course from its long-time home of Buninyong. They were facing eight laps of a 13.6km loop which headed past the Swan River and through the city centre, its 193m of elevation gain and some punchy climbs with gradients topping out at 12% providing a challenge in each of its final kilometres.
There may have been less climbing overall but the fragmented men’s U23 race on Saturday with a high attrition rate had demonstrated that the short sharp kicks, wind and heat could make it a tough course to tackle and breaks weren’t necessarily easy to reel back in.
Perhaps with that in mind, there was a relatively tentative start from the field, with only a couple of digs in the opening lap. During lap two, however, a break went that stuck in the shape of a group of six containing U23 riders Lucinda Stewart (Liv AlU Jayco Continental team) and Sophia Sammons (Praties Cycling), along with Ella Simpson (St Michel - Preference Home - Auber93), Cassia Boglio (PAS Racing) Lauren Thomas (McLardy McShane Insurance Advisors - Bomad Cycling) and Katelyn Nicholson (Butterfields Ziptrak).
The group which was devoid of Women's WorldTour riders quickly set to work on stretching their margin, and by the time there was 82.4km of the 109km race left the gap was already around two and a half minutes and it just continued to blow out. Thomas fell away, leaving five out the front to keep up the pace while the bunch behind was starting to look nervous but not enough to combine for a cohesive chase.
That meant that well before the halfway point of the race the gap had climbed to around five minutes, raising doubts about whether the favourites had already let their chance go.
At just under 60km to go, the attacks from the bunch began in earnest with time trial winner and 2023 road race victor Brodie Chapman (UAE Team ADQ) plus last year’s third-placed rider Alexander Manly (AG Insurance-Soudal) among the early aggressors. It was, however just the beginning and the moves just kept flying with the 2021 junior road race and time trial winner Alyssa Polites (Meridian Blue Cycling p/b 99 Bikes), 2021 title winner Sarah Roy (EF-Oatly-Cannondale) and Amber Pate (Liv AlUla Jayco) also on the list of those testing the waters.
Ultimately, it was during the fifth lap that Pate got away with three-times title winner Amanda Spratt (Lidl-Trek) and the duo headed off in pursuit of the lead group of five, with only a little more than three laps left to hunt them down. They chipped away at the gap, but as the bell rang for the final there were still around three minutes between the leading group of five and the two chasing seasoned WorldTour professionals. Meanwhile, the peloton, at more than five minutes back, was completely out of the game.
The five at the front remained together for most of the final lap, tracking through Kings Park, past the Swan River and through the city centre. However, Simpson and Stewart caused some splits as they put pressure on during the final climbs inside the last kilometre.
That was the point where Sammons popped and while Boglio and Nicholson kept within reach they couldn’t rival Simpson or Stewart, who cannily sat behind her rival before diving over the line with a throw of the bike to take the biggest win of her career so far.
Results
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