Clara Copponi (Lidl-Trek) won the Schwalbe Women's One Day Classic on Sunday, carefully tucked away in the field until she unleashed the perfect sprint to claim victory in the new 1.Pro race run alongside the Tour Down Under in South Australia.
Georgia Baker (Liv AlUla Jayco) came second after launching her powerful sprint 200 metres out while Rachele Barbieri (Picnic PostNL) took third in the bunch sprint even after having clipped off the front with Chloe Dygert ((Canyon-Sram zondacrypto) in a late race move.
“I was in a good wheel, I was not stressed," Copponi told reporters in an interview after the stage. "I knew that I didn't have to go too early, so I just waited the right moment and when Georgia went full gas, I just went full gas too.”
The French rider not only pulled off a perfect sprint but also a standout celebration when she crossed the line, almost a bike length ahead of her rivals. She threw her arms out in delight and then crossed them over her body and delivered a nod of the head as if to say 'that's how it's done'.
“It was a deal with the soigneur, I have to do this, so it's really funny,“ said Copponi. "It was a joke, but I was feeling good the day before the race and I just had to get used to the hot, and job done.”
The sprint came at the end of an aggressive and warm 90km race, with numerous attacks rolling. The last one that gained significant traction was initiated by Dygert, but that dangerous effort was reeled back in with 3.5km to go. Once that occured it was all in for the sprint.
"We knew that Chloe Dygert was going to attack up the climb … and then we just kind of controlled it really well and then our goal was just to be in the top 10 wheels coming in through the final roundabout with about a kilometre to go,” runner-up Baker said after the stage.
“We knew that was going to be really decisive as the road narrows and then just kind of hold front position and ideally, I said to Ruby [Roseman-Gannon], it'd be great to have you into the final last corner, the left hander. She positioned me as well as she could and then I repositioned back onto Chloe and started my sprint about 200 meters to go.”
Baker delivered a powerful surge, but Copponi came charging by and behind Barbieri found a gap in front of Dygert, leaving the Tour Down Under stage 3 winner in fourth.
How it unfolded
The Women’s Tour Down Under may have wrapped up a week ago but the competition in South Australia was still on, with a 1.Pro race joining the fray this year. The relatively flat 90km race, run over 20 laps of a 4.5km circuit that has just 50m of elevation gain per lap, provided the teams who had come out for the WorldTour race the opportunity to sweep up some extra points. It also delivered an opportunity for two of the strongest domestic teams, Butterfields Ziptrak and Praties Cycling.
The race in central Adelaide was held on the same course and over the same distance as the final men’s stage of the Tour Down Under, which would begin soon after the women’s finish. The hot weather was back again for the women’s racing, with a top temperature of 37°C making it a warm day of racing even though the early start would mean the women’s peloton escaped the worst of it.
After the start gun was fired it wasn’t the beginning key favourite Ally Wollaston (FDJ-Suez) was hoping for, a crash putting both her and ProVelo Super League leader Talia Appleton (Praties Cycling) on the back foot. They had a chase on their hands but Wollaston’s teammates were there to help her back into the field.
It also wasn’t the end of Wollaston’s woes, the rider having to drop off the back again with a mechanical five laps in and with Jayco-AlUla in particular following through with their pre-race plan to be aggressive, there was no easy chase back on. Wollaston had to burn valuable teammates to return at 55km to go after an extended chase.
The moves kept coming and being quickly pulled back but then at 38km, a solid break of 6 formed, with Gaia Masetti (AG Insurance-Soudal) among those driving the pace, though riders kept jumping over the gap and ultimately it wasn’t so much a break but a split up peloton.
Amanda Spratt (Lidl-Trek) then leapt off the front and was joined by Silke Smulders (Jayco-AlUla) and Simone Boilard (Uno-X). They stretched the gap and through the 11th lap of 20 Ruth Winder (Human Powered Health) joined them up the front. They were, however, pulled back and then Amber Pate (Jayco-AlUla) and Greta Marturano (UAE Team ADQ) soon took their turn to leap.
The duo stretched the gap out to 28 seconds at one point, creating the longest lasting break of the race, which kept rolling through until the race had just over 3 laps to go.
"The plan was to be aggressive, and I really enjoy that style of racing and at the end of the day, it does help our team," said Pate. "It's about taking the punt and sometimes you don't make it to the finish. But today was really fun and I had a great breakaway buddy out there with me ... eventually it'll stick."
With the field still all together heading into the final two laps Dygert flew out of the bunch at around 7km to go and Barbieri jumped in the slipstream to hold on for the ride. The pursuit was on, putting pressure on the field as Jayco-AlUla drove the pace, and then the catch came at around 3.5km to go.
It was then time for the final attacks to roll before the sprinter's teams got set for the final dash to the line, where Copponi would take her first win on the road since 2022.
Results
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