Wollaston wins bunch sprint to take first TDU stage

New Zealand’s Ally Wollaston finished powerfully to take the first stage of Australia’s Tour Down Under for her first women’s WorldTour win in an uphill finish to claim the leader’s jersey on Friday.

Wollaston (AG Insurance-Soudal) prevailed in a bunched sprint ahead of Australia’s Georgia Baker (Liv-AlUla-Jayco) and Italy’s Sofia Bertizzolo (UAE Team-ADQ) in sapping heat in the 93.9km leg from Hahndorf to Campbelltown.

“I’m just really proud,” Wollaston said. “The girls (team) rode amazing today. I can’t thank them enough for the work they did.

“I’m not usually super confident in the bunch, so I struggled quite a lot. But these girls looked after me so well.”

Wollaston’s win gave her a two-second lead overall from Baker but with sterner uphill tests to come, she is not expecting to hold on to the leader’s ochre jersey over the weekend’s final two stages.

“We’ve got a pretty big powerhouse of a team this week. Sarah [Gigante] is our little pocket rocket so we’re targeting Sunday for her.

“But for tomorrow we will just try to hold on to the jersey for as long as possible and see what happens.”

Three-time winner and favourite to make it four, Australia’s Amanda Spratt (Lidl-Trek) lies in 15th place overall after the first stage, 10 seconds down on the leader, and is expected to feature prominently over the final two stages.

This year’s event will culminate on Willunga Hill, an exacting climb that is synonymous with the Tour Down Under but has yet to be used by the women’s peloton.

It is the summit finish which plays to Spratt’s climbing strengths and she is relishing the opportunity to attack the climbs and assert her dominance over the field.

“I was pretty happy with how I am climbing so I’m feeling good for this week,” she said.

Defending champion Grace Brown (FDJ-Suez), who finished 10 seconds ahead of her compatriot Spratt to win last year’s TDU, lies in 24th place and a similar time behind the leader.

rsm/sco

AFP

(NAMPA / AFP)