ADELAIDE – The UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling women’s team enjoyed wallabies, summer weather and plenty of hard racing courtesy of the Santos Women’s Tour in Adelaide on January 14-17. The four-day tour saw Katie Hall claim third place on the first stage, Ruth Winder finish eighth on GC and solid, aggressive racing from the entire team.
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling team director Rachel Heal said the team’s performance of the season was a positive indicator of things yet to come.
“I’m really happy to start the year off well,” Heal said. “We started building the team at camp in Colombia [last December] and it’s fantastic to see that we could put that teamwork into immediate effect.”
Stage 1 – Hahndorf to Meadows
The 106.5-kilometre opening stage of the Santos Women’s Tour left Hahndorf at 11am and wound its way through the rolling Adelaide Hills to Meadows.
It was a fairly relaxed start with no significant breaks until 25km left in the stage. Eventual winner Amanda Spratt (Orica-Scott) and Rushlee Buchanan, fresh off her win at the New Zealand National Road Championships, went clear. After Janneke Ensing (Ale-Cipollini) bridged across, the trio built up a lead of 35 seconds with 10km to go.
At four km to go, Spratt went solo over the top of the QOM. Buchanan stayed clear to take 3rd over the QOM, but was caught by the bunch inside the last 3km.
With the UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling team well represented in the chasing bunch, Katie Hall, Ruth Winder and Tayler Wiles took turns wearing down group with relentless attacks. Eventually, Hall broke clear and held her advantage to the line to claim third place.
“It was a really good team effort all around. Lauren Hall and Lauretta Hansen covered early moves, and then having four riders in the chasing group behind the two leaders allowed us to get Katie clear to land on the podium,” said Heal.
Santos Women’s Tour Stage 1 results:
1. Amanda Spratt (Orica-Scott) 2:51:01
2. Janneke Ensing (Ale Cipollini) at 19 seconds
3. Katie Hall UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team at 59 seconds
General Classification after Stage 1:
1. Amanda Spratt (Orica-Scott) 2:51:01
2. Janneke Ensing (Ale Cipollini) at 19 seconds
3. Katie Hall UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team at 59 seconds
See more photos from there race in the photo gallery
Stage 2 – People’s Choice Classic Circuit
At just 14 laps of 2.3 kilometers, the Adelaide street circuit was fast and furious with continual short-lived attacks, but the speed never dropped enough for any groups to get clear.
Heading into the stage, Winder was tied on time for the best young rider jersey so the team’s plan was to help her scoop up time bonuses and then work for Hansen for the final sprint.
Winder claimed 2nd and 3rd in the first two sprints to give her a precious 3-second time bonus, which put her in the Best Young Rider jersey at the end of the stage.
“It was a fast race that never really gave you a chance to take a breath,” Winder said. “I’m lucky to have a great team that helped me out for the best young rider jersey. It was awesome to do some sprints and great to win it for the team.”
Coming into the finish, Hansen found herself at the front a little too early and ran out of steam before the line, but Heal said the young Aussie powerhouse learned some good lessons to take forward to the next race.
“Another good day for the team and good to get a criterium under our belts,” Heal said. “We set the young rider jersey as one of our targets for the race, so it’s great to see the team deliver on that goal.”
Stage 2 results:
1. Kirsten Wild (Cylance) 43:57
2. Rachele Barbieri (Cylance) s.t
3. Chloe Hosking (Ale Cipollini) s.t.
10. Ruth Winder (UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling) s.t
General Classification after Stage 2:
1. Amanda Spratt (Orica-Scott) 3:34:58
2. Janneke Ensing (Ale Cipollini) at 19 secs
3. Kirsten Wild (Cyclance) at 50 secs
5. Ruth Winder (UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling) at 57 secs
7. Katharine Hall (UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling) at 59 secs
Stage 3 – Tanunda to Lyndoch
Stage 3 was a 92.4-kilometer road race through the town of Tanunda twice and included two laps of the Lyndoch to Williamstown circuit.
The peloton rolled out in 33-degree heat of Tanunda at 11 a.m. passing vineyards, wineries and trademark Seppeltsfield palm trees as they made their way through Barossa towns to Lyndoch.
Despite the undulating profile, the race ended in a reduced field sprint with Australian Chloe Hosking (Ale Cipollini) taking top honors.
Winder finished just outside the top 10 on the stage, but moved up to a stellar fifth place in the overall standings.
Stage 3 results:
1. Chloe Hosking (Ale Cipollini) 2:21:56
2. Kirsten Wild (Cylance) s.t
3. Alexis Ryan (Canyon SRAM) s.t
General Classification:
1. Amanda Spratt (Orica-Scott) 5:56:54
2. Janneke Ensing (Ale Cipollini) at 19 secs
3. Kirsten Wild (Cyclance) at 50 secs
5. Ruth Winder (UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling) at 57 secs
7. Katherine Hall (UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling) at 59 secs
Stage 4 – Victoria Park Criterium
On the final stage of the Santos Women’s Tour, the riders tackled an hour-long stage around the 1.2-kilometer Victoria Park circuit as the sun went down in Adelaide.
Despite the constant stream of attacks, no breaks withstood any substantial time off the front due to work from Orica-Scott and Cylance. The UnitedHealthcare team rode safe and smart in the hectic finale that saw Kristen Wild (Cylance) sprint to her second win of the tour.
Stage 4 results:
1. Kirsten Wild (Cylance) 1:02:42
2. Annette Edmondson (Wiggle High5) s.t.
3. Chloe Hosking (Ale Cipollini) s.t.
Final Santos Women’s Tour classification:
1. Amanda Spratt (Orica-Scott) 6:59:36
2. Janneke Ensing (Ale Cipollini) at 25 secs
3. Kirsten Wild (Cylance) at 40 secs
8. Ruth Winder (UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling) at 59 secs
Photo Credit: Kirsty Baxter
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