Ultimate yr the Willunga level of the Ladies’s Excursion Down Beneath was once the decider however this yr, with the climb approaching level 2, the bottom won at the well-known ascent may well be briefly forgotten after Sunday’s scorching and important level in Stirling.
EF Training-Oatly’s Noemi Rüegg was once impressive on Willunga, matching the surges of favourites Niamh Fisher-Black (Lidl-Trek) and Neve Bradbury (Canyon-SRAM-zondacrypto) sooner than launching a searing assault within the ultimate kilometre to scouse borrow the level win and normal classification lead.
On the other hand, the Swiss champion faces 5 laps of an Ardennes Classics-style circuit with rarely a flat metre throughout 106 kilometres and temperatures hovering to just about 40°C.
Ultimate yr, the Stirling level was once handiest 3 laps and was once received by means of climber Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig in a discounted 29-rider uphill dash end. This yr, with two journeys up Willunga Hill of their legs and 5 laps in Stirling, the lead workforce is destined to be a lot smaller.
“Tomorrow is going to be a really hard stage,” Rüegg mentioned after her victory. “It’s also going to be super hot again, so I think we just have to stay calm and in control, follow the big breakaways. I think the stage should suit me really well. It’s always up and down. No rest. So I’ll just try to keep staying with my team.
“I believe we’ve got it below keep an eye on. We proved that we’re in reality a robust group and if we stick in combination, then we will do good things.”
EF Education-Oatly do have a strong team, but they’re also up against several equally powerful squads who have come away empty-handed in the first two stages of the opening WorldTour race.
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Lidl-Trek went all in for Niamh Fisher-Black and Amanda Spratt but a crash for the Kiwi dulled her edge in what was an extremely aggressive final climb up Willunga.
Spratt expects the peloton to pour the pressure on EF Education-Oatly on Sunday.
“I believe it is a it is a exhausting route to shield a jersey on,” Spratt said. “I believe that shall be moderately tricky. I be expecting to look very competitive driving. I am certain we are going to be competitive, and I believe it will be in reality thrilling. I undoubtedly assume the gaps don’t seem to be massive on GC so I do not believe it is in reality set in stone but.”
As it stands, the top three in the GC are rather unexpected names. Second is Silke Smulders (Liv-AlUla-Jayco), who is 15 seconds down on Rüegg in the standings, while Norwegian champion Mie Bjørndal Ottestad (Uno-X Mobility) sits in third at 33 seconds after taking the sprint for third on Willunga from Bradbury.
The motivation is high for Smulders, who wants to take the overall victory for her Australian team on home soil.
“It is moderately shut nonetheless, and I believe I had additionally moderately a pleasing hole to the 3rd position. The group is driving in reality neatly, and within the ultimate, we did it so just right. It was once superb to really feel how they rode and believed in me. So I believe anything else is imaginable for the next day.”
Ottestad, who started the 2024 season with an overall victory in the Tour de Normandie Féminin, is also expecting to battle for the GC in the Tour Down Under.
GC still wide open ahead of final stage
Not far down the overall standings behind Rüegg are aggressive riders like Polish champion Dominika Wlodarczyk (UAE Team ADQ) at 36 seconds. Justine Ghekiere (AG Insurance-Soudal), Elise Chabbey (FDJ-SUEZ) and Bradbury are a single second further in arrears, while Spratt is at 40 seconds and Fisher-Black 46 seconds down.
Ella Simpson (St Michel-Preference Home-Auber 93), who made the lead group heading into the climb but finished 1:40 down on Rüegg, noted that major teams have yet to score a stage win and will be highly motivated to change that.
“I believe the next day goes to be tremendous competitive,” Simpson said. “I believe other people shall be upset with how nowadays panned out, and we are going to see groups going left, proper and centre to check out and make a transformation to that GC. So yeah, the next day goes to be exhausting.”
FDJ-SUEZ is a prime example, having raced aggressively in the first two stages but they are yet to find the top step. Their top GC rider, Chabbey, may not be the team’s only option on Sunday, according to new recruit Ally Wollaston.
In the first two stages, the breakaways have been limited to one or two riders, with Wollaston going on the attack before the first Willunga ascent to join solo leader Alli Anderson (ARA Australian Cycling Team). Wollaston’s sprint for second was upstaged by solo winner Daniek Hengeveld (Ceratizit-WNT).
With everything still to play for on the final stage in Stirling, that most certainly will not be the case. WorldTour teams like Canyon-SRAM, FDJ-SUEZ, Lidl-Trek, and UAE Team ADQ aren’t in the position to protect a podium position and could well come together in a breakaway to try to depose Rüegg from the top step.
“I believe we’ve got numerous riders that may do in reality robust rides the next day,” Bradbury said. “I believe it is just right for us to head at the entrance foot and put power at the different groups, and make it an exhilarating race.”
Her teammate Chloé Dygert, who has been on the attack in both stages so far, is undoubtedly going to do the same on Sunday.
“I am in reality taking a look ahead to the next day. I in reality just like the terrain. However once more, it is day 3 of a level race and it is the first race of the yr, so all folks are going to have drained legs. I believe the next day goes to be who has probably the most left within the tank. We are simply going to race it exhausting after which attempt to pull it off.
No matter occurs, the overall level in Stirling is sure to be a cracker.
