Australia’s Grace Brown became the historic first Santos Tour Down Under UCI WorldTour champion
after taking out the stage win at Campbelltown on Tuesday.
The FDJ-SUEZ reigning national time trial champion beat three-time Tour Down Under champion
Amanda Spratt in a sprint finish after an intriguing race which really got started at the bottom of the
Corkscrew Road climb.
The Let's Go Stage 3 Adelaide to Campbelltown stage looked like it was on its way to Spratt after her
brave fight until Brown powered down Montacute Road to take out GC.
“I’m elated,” Brown said before the was surrounded by FDJ-SUEZ team officials in a show of solidarity.
“It feels so good, I knew the climb would be a challenge because Amanda (Spratt) is a bit more of a
climber, I just needed to keep her within reach.
“I planned before the stage to put some bigger gears on my bike, so I could keep pushing on the descent.
“I was able to for the last 3kms, I could see her (Spratt) and then I thought if I could catch her and then, I
decided to sit behind her in the last kilometre and I was fairly confident I could jump her in the sprint.”
Brown finished 10 seconds ahead of Trek-Segafredo’s Spratt in the GC, her second major prize of the
new year after she was crowned as the Australian national time trial champion earlier this month after
finished runner up in the road race.
Brown also claimed the Ziptrak points classification, two points ahead of Spratt and Georgia Williams from
EF Education TBCO SVB who finished third in the stage.
Spratt – a three-time Tour Down Under champion before it was awarded WorldTour status this year - was
crowned the efex Queen of the Mountain after reaching the Corkscrew summit in typical fashion first
before Brown’s team plan worked a treat.
and Gina Ricardo from Bridgelane were in the early break.
The pair opened up a gap of 1min 32 second which didn’t worry the race leaders 69km from the
Montacute Road, Campbelltown finish line.
As the first Ziptrak preme sprint was approaching the peloton made its move just outside Pioneer Avenue,
Lobethal but Ricardo claimed the time first time bonus followed by Danford.
Daria Pikulik from Human Powered Health – the winner of Ziptrak stage 1 Glenelg to Aldinga – picked up
the final time bonus beating the ochre jersey leader Alex Manly from Jayco AlUla at bay before the
peloton again settled.
With 54km before the finish Lucinda Stewart, 18, from ARA Skip Capital Sunshine joined race leaders
Danford and Ricardo to open a two-minute plus gap to the main peloton.
peloton slowed long before the Corkscrew Road climb.
Stewart claimed the second Ziptrak sprint at Torrens Valley Gumeracha with Ricardo and Danford second
and third respectively as Manly and Spratt settled into their saddles for the battle of the Corkscrew Road.
Stewart crashed after sliding on loose gravel as she was negotiating a right had turn onto Gorge Road but
within seconds she was back on the bike before the peloton made it safely around the same corner.
The showdown for GC was underway at the main peloton with Jayco UlULa, Trek-Segafredo and FDJ-
SUEZ preparing for the business end of the race as they flew down Gorge Road.
The breakaway came down to 1 min 21 sec before Brodie Chapman from Trek-Segafredo – the reigning
national road champion – put it all on the line to pull Spratt to the top of the Corkscrew Road summit.
Manly, was hanging on as the three-time Tour Down Under champion looked to be comfortabe before the
switchbacks on the Corkscrew.
Ruby Roseman-Gannon from Jayco-AlUla was also applying pressure as Manly dropped to the rear of the
main peloton.
Chapman was dropped as Spratt attacked at the front on Corkscrew Road and claimed the efex Queen of
the Mountain before the super-fast descent.
