Spratt New Women's Tour Down Under Leader

11 January 2019 09:37
Defending Santos Women's Tour Down Under Champion Amanda Spratt won the second stage of the 2019 race.Letizia Paternoster of Trek was in the leader's jersey for a stage from Nurioopta to Mengler Hill which saw Paine (NZL) and Wiasak (UNS) break with 86kms left, taking a 2.10 lead.Wiasak took the first sprint as the duo out front were chased by a group of five riders through the wine country with Paine taking the points on the first Queen Of The Mountains climb and Rebecca Wiasak, the most combative rider of the day, taking the second sprint with less than fifty kilometres to go as temperatures soared to 36 degrees.With fifteen kilometres left, the gap had fallen to just thirty seconds and the duo were caught with seven kilometres to go.Thirteen riders lead going into the closing stages with Amanda Spratt of Mitchelton Scott breaking away to win in 3.13.20. thirty-nine seconds ahead of her team mate Lucy Kennedy.With the bonuses, Spratt now leads the race from Kennedy by 43 seconds and said: "What can I say, my teammates were so so amazing and whenever they ride so hard for you like that, you want to finish it off. We had a plan and when you can ride it to perfection as a team, it just feels amazing. “We had Grace (Brown) do a fantastic job in the three or four kilometres before the climb and then Lucy hit it.  I had instructions to attack and bring no one with me so that’s what I did.   “Obviously today was a great day for us and puts us in the good position but we know tomorrow is still a tough day so we have to rest a little bit, celebrate a tiny bit and get ready for tomorrow." Second placed Lucy Kennedy said: “We had a really laid out plan, it was very specific and it just went perfectly really. “The early break that got away, we let them go because it was only two of them, and really just that last lap, the last 30km, we really took control of the race. “Grace (Brown) did a monster turn coming into the base of the hill and then it was my turn to just unleash. I knew Spratty was going to be better than me on the day so I was just waiting for her, but I am happy to hold on for second as well.”  Santos Women’s Tour Down Under – Stage 2:1. Amanda Spratt (Mitchelton-SCOTT) 3:13:202. Lucy Kennedy (Mitchelton-SCOTT) +0:393. Krista Doebel-Kickok (Rally UHC Cycling) +0:45 Santos Women’s Tour Down Under – General Classification after Stage 2:1. Amanda Spratt (Mitchelton-SCOTT) 6:23:382. Lucy Kennedy (Mitchelton-SCOTT) +0:433. Krista Doebel-Kickok (Rally UHC Cycling) .readfullarticle

Source: Kev Monks