Stewart stuns stars, snaring women’s cycling crown

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Stewart stuns stars, snaring women’s cycling crown

Lucinda Stewart has stunned the favourites to win her first *********** road cycling championship.

The 20-year-old from Melbourne, a member of the Liv AlUla Jayco development team, was in a small breakaway group that dominated Sunday’s 109km race at Kings Park in Perth.

She outsprinted Ella Simpson (St Michel) to snare the title in a boilover, with Cassia Boglio (Swan Drafting CC) third.

Stewart, whose previous best result was winning the Melbourne to Warrnambool race last year, is the youngest winner of the women’s elite road title since Sarah Gigante claimed the championship as an 18-year-old in 2019.

Stewart also took out the under-23 *********** title with Sunday’s win.

The three placegetters joined Katelyn Nicholson and Sophia Sammons in the break that formed early in the eight-lap race around the testing 13.6km Kings Park circuit.

By the time the big names in the peloton started reacting, the leaders had built a gap of about five minutes.

Three-time winner Amanda Spratt (Lidl Trek) and senior Liv AlUla Jayco rider Amber Pate attacked the peloton with just over 40km left.

But they could not bridge the gap and ended up finishing two minutes and six seconds adrift.

Sarah Roy (EF Education Oatly), the 2021 winner, led the peloton home at 4:55 for eighth place.

This is the first time the nationals have been in Perth since 1997 and follows nearly two decades of the road race titles being decided on the Buninyong circuit, outside Ballarat.

The favourites in the elite men’s road race, being held on Sunday afternoon, would have taken careful note of how the women’s event played out and the danger posed by a motivated breakaway group.

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