Formidable Franz secures fifth on second stage of TDU
Heidi Franz showed off her formidable sprint to finish in fifth position after an attritional day in the second stage of the Women’s Santos Tour Down Under.
Lifeplus-Wahoo rode a tactical race, battling the strong winds, heat, fast pace and undulating course to ensure Franz could deliver on the uphill finish in Stirling.
Rolling out of Glenelg in 32-degree heat, Kristyna Burlová looked ready to race in the white Young Rider Jersey, sitting in ninth on the GC. As soon as the flag dropped, the peloton set a frantic pace, battling the strong winds in an animated start of what was the longest ever stage of the Tour Down Under at 104.2km.
The first challenge of the day came just 12.4km in, with riders tackling the category one climb of Cherry Gardens. The 15.6% maximum gradient was no match for Karin Söderqvist and Alicia Gonzalez, who showed off their climbing prowess as the peloton fought for position at the summit of the first queen of the mountain of the day.
While the peloton strung out on the descent, it came back together before the first intermediate sprint. The pace continued to increase, with the blistering speed and cross winds causing difficulty for the bunch.
Coming into the circuit in Stirling for the first time, which the peloton would race over two and a half laps, the bunch had broken up with solo rider Haylee Fuller (BridgeLane) 24 seconds up the road. Söderqvist showed her strength to bridge over quickly with three others to form a leading group of five. The group stayed away for a few kilometres, before the move was shut down by the peloton with 39km remaining.
The Lifeplus-Wahoo train was front and centre of the race, with Kate Richardson leading the charge as the pace remained high coming into the second accession of three up the Stirling Climb. Riders attacked over the top of the climb with a fast, technical descent testing the riders as Lifeplus-Wahoo stayed close to the front, with Franz and Kaja Rysz leading the squad in a reduced bunch.
The last 16km saw frequent attacks reeled back in as the peloton powered down the pace, hitting speeds of 82km on the descents of the undulating circuit. Lifeplus-Wahoo continued to ride tactically, following the wheels of teams at the front to conserve energy for the hilltop finish.
A frantic pace up the climb saw Franz well in the mix, and a nervy last kilometre saw the riders watching before pouncing in the final 100m. Franz unleashed an incredible sprint, coming around on the left to finish in a fantastic fifth position. and put her 12th on the GC Söderqvist crossed the line 37th, Rysz 58th, Richardson 60th, and Gonzalez 62nd. Having crashed heavily yesterday, we decided to take precautions and stop Burlová midway through today’s stage.
Speaking after the race, Franz said: “Today was amazing! The whole day I was protected and had the team around me. I’ve never raced like that before with that much support and it was a really cool experience and learning opportunity to figure out how to be in that position in a team. It was super encouraging and really built up my confidence.
“In the circuit we had four of us - Kate and Kaja and Alicia were just absolute legends and looked after me on the tricky descents. They really helped me get in the position I needed to be. It was a bit dodgy coming into the finish and I just got up far enough to sprint over the top of some people and landed on number five.”
Having been in a break, Söderqvist added: “It was a super hard day as we expected. I think everybody did a great job but we’re super excited for tomorrow and what we can do.
“When we came to the circuit, I felt okay and then when people started to attack, I was in a good position so when the girls started to go, I went as well. During the break, it was hard to work together and I tried to make it work.”