Photos: Getty Sport
Katia Ragusa captured overall victory in the Santos Tour Down Under QOM classification, making it certain on the final 94.3km stage from Adelaide to Willunga Hill.
Ragusa confirmed the win in style, cresting Windy Point in the first section of the stage to mean that the 26-year-old won five of the six categorized climbs over the three stages.
“It’s so nice to begin with a new jersey in a new team. I think it’s amazing,” she said afterward. “The first race is a tricky one. You don’t know the level and the feelings in the bunch so for sure it’s nice to have these good feelings.”
A team effort, Ragusa benefitted greatly from the domestique powers of Lily Williams to lead her out for the points.
“I can’t thank my teammates enough,” Ragusa said. “They protected me and delivered me on the climbs in the best place to score the points. They were amazing on all the days.”
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- Breakaways were rarely given an inch of space as the race went down to the wire.
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- The beautiful but windy coastal roads made an initial selection with crosswinds reducing the size.
Ragusa made the most of the new fleet from Factor and her classification victory is the first ever WorldTour jersey for a Factor bike team in either men’s or women’s cycling.
“This start to the season gives me confidence to get back to work,” Ragusa ends.
After 27 months away from the Women’s WorldTour, Ruth Edwards ended her first weekend back racing by riding to 15th on the final stage, finishing 16th on the general classification.
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- A spot of early reading for Audrey Cordon-Ragot.
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- Edwards crests Willunga Hill, the first uphill finish of the year.
Home rider Sarah Gigante (AG Insurance – Soudal Team) won the final stage, taking the overall win.
Next up for the squad in Australia is the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race on January 27. A 141km one-day Classic starting and finishing in Geelong, rolling terrain, exposed coastal roads and a double ascent of the 1km at 8.9% Montpellier Hill in the finale will reward attacking racing.
Final QOM standings
1 RAGUSA Katia – Human Powered Health 37 points
2 LUDWIG Cecilie Uttrup – FDJ – SUEZ 12
3 GIGANTE Sarah – AG Insurance – Soudal Team 10
4 VINKE Nienke – Team dsm-firmenich PostNL 6
5 GRANGIER India – Team Coop – Repsol 6
