Reigning US national road champion Ruth Winder is on the verge of a major upset at the women’s Santos Tour Down Under
Trek-Segafredo’s American Ruth Winder has beaten Liane Lippert and Lauren Stephens to claim the third stage of the Women’s Tour Down Under and claim the leader’s jersey.
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Trek-Segafredo’s US reigning national road champion Ruth Winder is on the brink of rewriting the history books after claiming stage 3 of the women’s Tour Down Under at Stirling on Saturday.
Liane Lippert (Team Sunweb) and Lauren Stephens (Team TIBCO-Silicon Valley Bank) finished second and third in the uphill finish.
The stage winner's 10 second time bonus put Winder in the leader’s ochre jersey.
Winder is just 42.5km away from securing her maiden Tour Down Under crown in the streets of downtown Adelaide on Sunday.
“I’ll have to put some sprinter’s legs on,” said Winder.
“We also have Lotta (Henttala) who is a superfast sprinter, she got second on the first stage, and we will be looking to see if we can get her on the podium again.”
Winder will be marked for the final stage of the flat race after forcing three-time reigning Tour Down Under champion Amanda Spratt to give up her ochre jersey.
There is a seven second gap from the US star to the Australian reigning national road champion.
Trek-Segafredo’s Tayler Wiles arriving in Adelaide about a week before her teammates seemed to be the golden tonic which caused an upset at Stirling given she did lots of reconnaissance.
“Tayler Wiles (teammate) set me up really beautifully for the final and I was able to sprint and it was good,’’ Winder said.
“Tayler Wiles set-up a good pace for the climb with 8kms to go and on the descent Tayler was really good and I was just telling her everything I had to tell her and not to go too soon and she set me up really well.”
Back at home, Winder’s mum was struggling to watch the closing stages of the race.
THE BODYGUARD DID HER BEST FOR AMANDA
Mitchelton-Scott’s Lucy Kennedy was absolutely brilliant, aggressive and willing to give the former race leader, teammate Spratt every chance in sticking by the more suited riders for the stage.
“I’m really disappointed to lose the race lead that wasn’t the plan but really, really proud the way the team rode,’’ Spratt said after finishing 10th.
“We stuck to the plan, I didn’t have the legs to the finish, I finished empty, there wasn’t much more I could have done I don’t think.”
The 31-year-old Kennedy finished second overall in last year’s Tour Down Under.
It’s not over yet but Spratt would need help from the cycling gods in a bid to secure a fourth overall crown.
“There’s still one more day anything is still possible, realistically the time gap is seven seconds, it’s going to be a sprinters stage and there are plenty of sprinters going for the (bonus) seconds and the finish as well,’’ Spratt said.
“It’s going to be a tough ask but we’ll still it our best shot.”
HOW ABOUT MORE OF A CLIMB LIKE WILLUNGA HILL FOR NEXT YEAR’S RACE?
Spratt said it but whether race director Kimberley Conte considers it is another thing.
“From a purely selfish point of view I would love to see more climbing I would love to see us go up Willunga Hill one of those more iconic climbs around Adelaide would be really great,’’ Spratt said.
“It’s good to change the race around to get different riders different opportunities.
“This year has been much more dynamic and much more exciting, the GC completely changed today and that’s not a bad thing for the race either.”
GERMANY’S ICE COOL GUN
Team Sunweb’s Liane Lippert, 22, is also just seven seconds away from race leader Winder after a brilliant 109.1km Nairne to Stirling stage.
She came second in Stirling and is the outright owner of the Queen of the Mountain jersey.
She could also be the one to end Mitchelton-Scott’s team dominance at the women’s Tour Down Under after Katrin Garfoot claimed the first edition in 2016.
With 19 seconds of bonuses up for grabs during the fast finish on Sunday, Lippert believes she can take seconds off the race leader.
“It’s going to be really interesting, there’s a lot of corners and it’s a technical race,’’ she said.
“We have to stay in front and I’m confident with my team, I feel really safe if they’re around me.
“They’ll do their very best to bring me in the best position.”
Originally published as Reigning US national road champion Ruth Winder is on the verge of a major upset at the women’s Santos Tour Down Under