Wiggle High5 Pro Cycling’s Dani King took third place in the opening stage of the Santos Women’s Tour in Mount Torrens, just west of Adelaide, South Australia. The 2012 Olympic Champion was part of a group of five riders that escaped the peloton in the last of five laps of the rolling 19km circuit, and was only just beaten by American sprinter Shelley Olds (Cylance) in the dash for second, after the stage had been taken by a late surge from Australian time trial champion Katrin Garfoot (Orica-AIS).
Local rider, Wiggle High5 Pro Cycling’s double World Track Champion Nettie Edmondson won the sprint for sixth place, at the head of a 21-rider group that also included teammate Chloe Hosking.
“We knew the teams would be firing riders up the climbs, so we were at the front,” King said at the finish. “Peta [Mullens] led me into the last climb in third position, Katrin attacked up the last climb and we ended up in a group of five. I was working with them because we had a really good gap and I was confident that I could take it to the end and then it was a case of trying to set up for the sprint.
“Katrin went early, and I wanted to go with around 200 metres to go because I knew it was an uphill sprint,” King continued. “She went a lot earlier than expected, and I held on and managed to get third. Not a bad start for the team!”
The rolling laps saw the peloton split several times, but only a solo move from Sharlotte Lucas (Holden) able to get away. Wiggle High5 Pro Cycling’s Chloe Hosking attacked across the gap, with Garfoot, but the three riders were pulled back into the shrinking peloton as the race approached the closing stages.
King then escaped with what was to prove to be the winning move, along with Garfoot, Olds, and King’s former teammate Lauren Kitchen (Hitec Products). First place over the line at the top of Burfords Hill Road, Kenton Valley, the second time means that the Olympic Champion will wear the red and white polka-dot mountains jersey in tomorrow’s second stage.
Result1. Katrin Garfoot (Orica-AIS)
2. Shelley Olds (Cylance)
3. Dani King (Wiggle High5 Pro Cycling)
Photo Credit: Jarrod Partridge/JXP Photography
