A poor start to the season has proved fuel to the fire for Ally Wollaston’s masterclass at the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race.
The New Zealand cycling star outsprinted a class front group to take out Saturday’s 142.4km race that started and finished in Geelong.
It came less than three weeks after the new FDJ Suez recruit and her teammates were among several teams left red-faced at stage one of Adelaide’s Tour Down Under.
On a day tailor-made for fast finishers such as Wollaston, Dutch rider Daniek Hengeveld won with a solo break that caught the sprinters’ teams napping.
This time, there were no mistakes.
Wollaston proved she is much more than just a sprinter, sticking with the leaders in the two ascents of the tough Challambra Hill climb that dominates the Cadel Evans race.
She bided her time as the front group of 14 lined up for the finish and timed her kick perfectly for a convincing win.
It is Wollaston’s first victory at WorldTour level since taking out stage one of last year’s Tour Down Under and follows her win on Wednesday at the Surf Coast classic, a preamble for Saturday.
“It could have gone one of two ways – we could have taken it really badly and been fed up, pissed off about the result. But the team really took it in our stride,” Wollaston said of the Tour Down Under.
“Communication in the team has been really good since then.
“It was definitely fuel for the fire.
“We made a few mistakes in South Australia … it made us hungrier this week. We were all really motivated today.”
Dutch rider Karlijn Swinkels (UAE) was second and Swiss Noemi Ruegg (EF Education Oatly) took third after winning the Tour Down Under.
American star Chloe Dygert (Canyon Sram) was another pre-race favourite and finished fourth, surprisingly not unleashing her trademark turn of pace at the finish.
Amanda Spratt (Lidl Trek) was the only Australian in the front group and finished 13th after doing a power of work in the last few kilometres.
On the last climb up Challambra, with about 10km left, Wollaston knew she was a big chance when she stayed with Dygert.
“I wouldn’t actually say super-comfortable – it was really hard. But to make it over Challambra the second time, on Dygert’s wheel, I knew I was in with a good shot,” she said.
Wollaston has never done a full season on the road, winning a silver and bronze on the track at the Paris Olympics and then two world titles at the velodrome.
She joins Dutch star Demi Vollering, the No.1 recruit this season at FDJ Suez, and is rapt with her new team.
“We’ve grown so much, even in the space of two weeks,” she said.
“The team have a lot of confidence in me.
“Today proves I’m not just a sprinter – I don’t particularly enjoy hectic bunch sprints.
“So if I can figure out a way to be the strongest sprinter at the end of a really hard race, that’s the rider I hope to be.”
A series of crashes punctuated the second half of the race, with Australian Alyssa Polites (ARA national team) and Hengeveld (Ceratizit) among those to abandon.
Australian Neve Bradbury (Canyon Sram), one of the top riders in the field, was a late withdrawal on Saturday morning because of illness.
