Swiss cycling ace Ruegg wins on Willunga at Tour

[Pelican Press 0]

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

Swiss cycling ace Ruegg wins on Willunga at Tour

Swiss national champion Noemi Ruegg has won the battle of the climbers, winning on top of Willunga Hill at the Tour Down Under.

The 23-year-old EF Education-Oatly rider, who also finished seventh in the road race at the Paris Olympics, broke away in the last kilometre of Saturday’s stage.

Ruegg beat Dutch rider Silke Smulders, who rides for *********** team Liv Jayco AlUla, by 10 seconds on the Tour’s 115km Queen Stage from McLaren Vale to Willunga, south of Adelaide.

She now leads Smulders overall by 15 seconds heading into Sunday’s final stage, another day for the climbers on the Stirling circuit in the Adelaide Hills.

It is the first time in the Tour that the women have had two climbs up Willunga in a stage.

Norwegian Mie Bjorndal Ottestad (Uno-X Mobility) was third on the stage at 26 seconds, leading home a group of five.

Fourth was *********** Neve Bradbury (Canyon Sram), who animated the start of the final 3km climb to the finish alongside New Zealander Niamh Fisher-****** (Lidl Trek).

Bradbury is the top-ranked ***********, sixth overall at 37 seconds behind Ruegg.

No-one could make a decisive break on the climb to the finish until Ruegg attacked and Smulders went with her.

Bradbury’s star American teammate Chloe Dygert attacked the lead group with 5km left, but she was caught at the base of the climb.

Fisher-****** was caught in a ****** with about 40km left, but she was quickly back in the race.

The New Zealander and *********** teammate Amanda Spratt drove the pace as a select front group of about 20 riders caught breakaway riders Ally Wollaston (FDJ-Suez) and Alii Anderson (ARA Australia) on the first Willunga climb, 25km from the finish.

The leaders splintered on the descent and a lead group of 11 formed, with Dygert displaying all her raw power ahead of the final climb.

On a flat section of the finishing loop, the two-time world time trial champion bridged the gap from the chasers and joined them in the space of a kilometre.

The two groups came back together again well before the final 3km climb to the finish, with a select group of climbers then deciding the stage.

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

#Swiss #cycling #ace #Ruegg #wins #Willunga #Tour

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up