Olympian Amanda Spratt wins back-to-back Tours

Australian Olympian Amanda Spratt has won back-to-back Santos Women’s Tour Down Under titles.

Amanda Spratt celebrates claiming the Women’s Tour Down Under Picture Sarah Reed

Australian Olympian Amanda Spratt has won back-to-back Santos Women’s Tour Down Under titles after surviving a high-speed crash to defend the ochre jersey in last night’s final stage criterium in Adelaide.

Riding for Australian pro team Mitchelton-Scott, Spratt started the 46km Stage 4 with a 29-second lead from Lauren Stephens (Cylance Pro Cycling) and 1min 30sec on Katrin Garfoot (UniSA-Australia) and sealed her second consecutive title.

Spratt set up her overall victory by winning Stage 3 from Tailem Bend to Hahndorf on Saturday, but suffered a major scare on lap eight last night when she was involved in a high-speed crash that brought down about 20 riders.

Fortunately for the race leader she was not seriously hurt and her teammates waited to bring her back to the peloton, where she crossed the finish line safely behind stage winner Chloe Hosking (Ale Cipollini).

Hosking’s team controlled the tempo of the race on the final lap last night before the star sprinter took over and finished the job to beat Italian Giorgia Bronzini (Cylance Pro Cycling) and Annette Edmondson (Wiggle-High5).

“It was quite stressful out there, it wasn’t ideal but the team didn’t panic — I think I panicked more than anyone else,” Spratt said of the mid-race crash.

“(Annemiek) Van Vleueten stopped and she was trying to calm me down, everyone around me was really calm, so that helped.

“I’m sore and I have some skin off but I’m all right. I’m really, really happy, I’m so proud of the team this week. We’ve gone up a level in terms of the way we’re working together. Certainly this is something I was targeting and I’m happy to pull it off for the team.”

This year’s Women’s Tour Down Under was upgraded by the UCI to a 2.1 classification which is now just two steps below WorldTour level.

The Tour featured a hilltop stage finish for the first time when the peloton raced up Mengler’s Hill on Stage 2.

Spratt is a two-time national champion from 2012 and 2016 and represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

But she has ruled herself out of contention for a home Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast in April by preferring to focus on the Ardennes classics in Europe.

“I haven’t had that one, big, standout year but every year I’m getting a little bit better,” she said.

Hosking said she was relieved to win a stage of the TDU and hopes it brings momentum for the early part of the season.

“It’s always nice to get the first win ticked off and then hopefully they just come rolling in like a snowball,” Hosking said.

“I’m really glad I could get the win in one of the stages of the Tour because I came in knowing I had unreal form.”