Sweet As.

“How things start is often how they end”

Canberra Women’s Tour 8-10 July

When 2 bags didn’t arrive in Canberra with us it was an indication of how the weekend was going to go.........

Trusty Wayne was there to meet us and get the ball rolling. The freezing temps of Canberra took our breath away as we walked out the door .

Fridays time trial was windy on the way out and tail wind back in. Zoe made the most of the conditions and turned in a great time to be 4th overall. Loren had a solid performance to finish top ten, with Trish and Amy making it through.

With stage 2 being an 80k epic hill fest, the teams aim was to try and move Zoe and Loren further up the GC. Loren, Zoe and Trish rode the first part of the race solidly, close to the front covering dangerous attacking moves. Loren and Zoe comfortably made the selection each time over the hills. Over the last climb, with 5 Klm to go, Loren and Zoe moved off the front with 4 other riders and drove it to the finish, making 30sec on the rest of the peloton. This moved Loren up on GC, and Zoe only 10sec behind 3rd.

Stage 3, another hilly 40k and the Bundy girls were armed with a plan to get the 10seconds needed to put Zoe on the podium. It was a windy, cold day in Canberra.....great racing weather!

The pace started high with multiple attacks in the first 10k. Loren strung the pack out down the first descent, and climbed solidly to keep Zoe in the first group of riders to the turnaround point at the top of the climb......unfortunately as Zoe put the power down to accelerate, and crashed over the bars. Trish pulled over to give Zoe her bike but unfortunately Zoe was in no condition to go on. Trish spent the rest of the race chasing back on, while Loren had a solid ride to finish in the bunch, solidifying her place in the top 10.

The temperature dropped as the day went on and the winds picked up, making for a hard criterium in the afternoon.

Both Loren and Trish finished the race, so the team was happy to see the end of Canberra with only 2 finishers and no points!

Definitely not our best tour, but this has made us hungrier for Geelong..........

Trish