Peta Mullens (Roxsolt LIV Sram) unleashed a powerful sprint from the lead group to take out the opening stage of the four-day Santos Festival of Cycling event, which replaces the cancelled Santos Women’s Tour Down Under.
A split in the peloton, that left pre-race favourite Grace Brown (Team BikeExchange) chasing, meant it was down to a bunch of about a dozen sprinting for the win of the National Road Series race. Mullens, who has a long list of Australian titles on both the mountain bike and road, took a clear win with Ruby Roseman-Gannon’s (ARA Pro-Racing) second boding well for her overall chances.
“It was great,” said Mullens straight after taking the win. “We’ve been wanting to get back to racing for a really long time. I feel like this was the last time that we had a really big bike race. We just wanted to come here and animate the race. I just wanted the girls to feel part of the bike race, and winning was really just part of paying them back.”
more to come …
| Pos. | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Peta Mullens (AUS) Roxsolt LIV SRAM | 2:18:21 |
| 2 | Ruby Roseman-Gannon (AUS) ARA Pro-Racing Sunshine Coast Women | |
| 3 | Nicole Frain (AUS) Syndey Uni Staminade | |
| 4 | Matilda Reynolds (AUS) Specialized Women’s Racing | |
| 5 | Sarah Gigante (AUS) Team Garmin Australia | |
| 6 | Neve Bradbury (AUS) Team Garmin Australia | |
| 7 | Danielle de Francesco (AUS) Specialized Women’s Racing | |
| 8 | Lucy Kennedy (AUS) Team BikeExchange | |
| 9 | Carlee Taylor (AUS) Roxsolt LIV SRAM | |
| 10 | Anya Louw (AUS) ARA Pro-Racing Sunshine Coast Women |
| Pos. | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Peta Mullens (AUS) Roxsolt LIV SRAM | 2:18:21 |
| 2 | Ruby Roseman-Gannon (AUS) ARA Pro-Racing Sunshine Coast Women | 0:00:02 |
| 3 | Nicole Frain (AUS) Syndey Uni Staminade | 0:00:06 |
| 4 | Matilda Reynolds (AUS) Specialized Women’s Racing | 0:00:10 |
| 5 | Sarah Gigante (AUS) Team Garmin Australia | st |
| 6 | Neve Bradbury (AUS) Team Garmin Australia | |
| 7 | Danielle de Francesco (AUS) Specialized Women’s Racing | |
| 8 | Lucy Kennedy (AUS) Team BikeExchange | |
| 9 | Carlee Taylor (AUS) Roxsolt LIV SRAM | |
| 10 | Anya Louw (AUS) ARA Pro-Racing Sunshine Coast Women |
