Two-time former Road World Champion Giorgia Bronzini will be looking for the same sensations on the roads that saw her take the first of her rainbow jerseys in Saturday’s Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, in Geelong, Victoria. The 31-year-old Italian produced one of the sprints of her life at the end of the 127km race, back in October 2010, to condemn overwhelming favourite Marianne Vos of the Netherlands to yet another silver medal.
“Of course I have a great memory of Geelong!” Bronzini said. “I know that the finish will be different to the World Championships. It was a little bit uphill, who I like, but I hope to have the same feeling on Saturday!”
Although the Eastern Beach finishing straight will be far flatter than that on Mooraboool Street in 2010, victories in the Mitchelton Bay Crits and the Santos Women’s Tour mean that Bronzini will start the race as one of the overwhelming favourites, at the head of a powerful Wiggle Down Under team.
Alongside the former World Champion will be powerful domestique, and former Swedish Champion Emilia Fahlin, and British Criterium Champion Eileen Roe. The three European riders will be joined by two Australians, in Chloe Hosking and Nettie Edmondson; with the latter fresh from her National Record performance in the Team Pursuit at the Australian National Track Championships.
For Bay Crits winner Hosking though, who is building her form towards her first major season target at the Tour of Qatar, the Cadel Evans’ race – which will mark the retirement of the only Australian winner of both the Elite Men’s Road World Championships and the Tour de France – will be one of the biggest events on the Australian calendar in 2015.
“This is a really exciting race for Australia,” she said. “It’s been all over the news and reviewing prime time coverage and it’s really showing that cycling is more than a fringe sport these days; it’s right up there with the Tennis and the AFL.
“It’s exciting that, from the get go, a women’s race has been included,” she added. “A huge thanks has to go to Cadel for everything he’s done for Aussie cycling. The sport has never been more popular and this event shows that.”
Wiggle Down Under team for the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race (31st January)
Giorgia Bronzini (Italy)
Annette Edmondson (Australia)
Emilia Fahlin (Sweden)
Chloe Hosking (Australia)
Eileen Roe (Great Britain)
