‘A bit bittersweet’ – Josie Nelson concludes Australian season opening with second place at Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race

The final race of the Australian Women’s WorldTour summer, the Mapei Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, brought a repeat of the head-to-head battle that opened the month of racing at the Women’s Tour Down Under.

That opening stage in Willunga saw Ally Wollaston (FDJ United-SUEZ) take on Josie Nelson (Picnic-PostNL) and win, and Saturday brought a repeat of the result, with the Australian once again coming out on top.

Nelson was up there among an elite 12-rider group, which also included Tour Down Under winner Noemi Rüegg (EF Education-Oatly) following the two tricky late ascents of Challambra Crescent (1.1km at 9%).

FDJ had three riders in the group with Wollaston alongside Amber Kraak and Lauren Dickson, while several other teams – Visma-Lease a Bike, UAE Team ADQ, and Liv-AlUla-Jayco – could rely on two riders. Despite being outnumbered, Nelson was prepared for a finishing sprint, which, thankfully for her, came to pass.

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“Coming into the final lap, I thought maybe [FDJ] would try some cards of attacking; they and UAE both had quite a few riders, but both teams were pretty much just pacing. That suited me better because I was just by myself in the final. So, I was happy with a bunch sprint,” she said.

She expanded on the tactics of the final kilometres in a Picnic-PostNL press release, too, noting that she had followed the moves on the late climbs after her teammates had set her up near the front.

“The girls did a quality job positioning me into the climb for the final time, so I just followed at the front and was strong enough to follow a move, but the bunch brought us back in,” Nelson said.

“In the finish, I just fought for the good wheels and launched my sprint, but couldn’t come around Ally. But I’m super happy to finish the Australian block with a podium and can’t thank the girls and the team enough for their support in the races!”