đŽđš Aussies at the Giro đŽđš
Ben OâConnor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) had been aiming for the overall podium at the Giro dâItalia and while he ultimately fell just short of that goal â finishing fourth on GC â he still had plenty to be proud of. âI ended up where I deserved to finish,â he told Eurosport after the race finished in Rome on Sunday. âI canât be disappointed because I gave my best and I think I actually did some really good performances throughout the race that Iâm really proud of.â
OâConnor pointed specifically to the second ITT, where he was seventh, and the final mountain stage â stage 20 â where he finished eighth. But the West Aussie had a bunch of such performances over the three weeks, with four top 10s en route to fourth overall â his second such finish at a Grand Tour, after finishing fourth at the 2021 Tour de France. Not a bad effort given the 28-year-old was sick during the final week of the Giro.
A little further down the GC, OâConnorâs fellow West Australian, Michael Storer (Tudor), rode to what was easily his best overall result at a Grand Tour. Storer managed four top-10s for the race but ultimately, it was Storer’s ninth-place finish on the final mountain stage that saw him jump up two spots from 12th overall to land his first Grand Tour top 10.
Australiaâs biggest-name sprinter, Caleb Ewan (Jayco AlUla) finished the Giro for the first time, but his race was pretty forgettable otherwise. He only hit the top 10 on three occasions, with sixth on stage 5 being his best result. Instead it was Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) who most impressed among the Aussie fastmen, taking two runner-up finishes, and two third-place finishes. Groves also ended up second in the points classification, behind three-time stage winner Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek).
And so the men’s WorldTour rumbles on toward the CritĂŠrium du DauphinĂŠ, the biggest Tour de France lead-up race, which kicks off this Sunday. Notable Aussies on the (provisional) startlist include Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe) â whoâll be racing alongside PrimoĹž RogliÄ and Aleksandr Vlasov â Jack Haig (Bahrain Victorious), and Chris Harper (Jayco AlUla).
đŤđˇ An Aussie clean-sweep in Brittany đŤđˇ
Over in France, meanwhile, it was a great few days for the Aussie women at the Bretagne Ladies Tour. Defending champion Grace Brown (FDJ-Suez) came out of the gates with a bang, winning the stage 1 ITT by almost a minute (over just 18.8 km), and leading an FDJ-Suez 1-2-3-4 on the day. That result gave Brown the overall lead, which she would ultimately carry through to the end of the three-stage race (down from five stages last year).
On stage 2, Sarah Roy (Cofidis) got into a five-rider breakaway that got clear with around 30 km to go, and ended up winning the sprint from that group. It was Royâs first win since her Aussie road title in January 2021, and her first win in Europe since August 2019. It was a win that meant a lot to the 38-year-old after a tough few seasons.
And then it was Brownâs turn back in the spotlight on the final stage, the Victorian turning a solo attack with 9 km to go into a stage victory in the leaderâs jersey. Brown left the tour with overall victory by more than a minute ⌠ahead of three of her teammates in what was a dominant performance from FDJ-Suez.
While the Bretagne Ladies Tour is only a third-tier race (UCI 2.1 classification), those great few days will surely give Brown additional confidence as she builds towards her biggest target of the year: the Tokyo Olympics.
đ CX season kicks off đ
Back home to Australia now where the Cyclocross National Series has just begun. Rounds 1 and 2 were held in Zombie Park in Adelaide over the weekend â the seriesâ first return to the course in seven years.
In dusty conditions, the weekend belonged to Katherine Hosking and Tristan Nash, with both riders winning on Saturday and Sunday.
National champion Hosking led from the front on Saturday and was able to fend off a challenge from Miranda Griffiths to win by 15 seconds, while Nash was strongest in a battle with former national champion Chris Jongewaard. On Sunday, Hosking surged clear on the final lap to record two wins in two days while Nash hit the front early and built a lead that neared a minute by the finish line.
The AusCycling CX National Series continues with rounds 3 and 4 in Brisbane on June 15-16. The series then concludes in Sydney with two rounds on July 20-21.
Got a story tip? Something readers should know about? I’d love to hear from you! Please reach out via email.
âď¸ Snippets âď¸
- 19-year-old Aussie Joshua Ludman, riding for the British Continental team Saint Piran, took his first pro win at the Tour of Japan last week. Ludman came to the finish of stage 4 with one other rider â Japanâs Tetsuo Yamamoto â and managed to win the sprint. Lovely video here of Ludman celebrating with his dad:
- In other strong performances at the Tour of Japan: Drew Morey (Kinan) took third on stage 3; Ben Dyball (Victoire Hiroshima) was third on stage 5 (a stage won by Alexandre Vinokourovâs son, Nicolas), and then was third again on the legendary Mt. Fuji stage the next day. Dyball went on to finish third overall. Australia’s Team BridgeLane took out the teams classification.
- Over at the Alpes Isère Tour in France, Alastair Mackellar (Hagens Berman Jayco) snagged victory on stage 4 with a sprint from a small group. Fellow Aussies Declan Trezise (ARA-Skip Capital) and Oscar Chamberlain (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Development Team) took second and third in the bunch sprint that decided the opening stage.
- In case you missed the news earlier this month, Australiaâs federal government has committed $100 million to a new national Active Transport Fund that will âupgrade and deliver new bicycle and walking pathsâ to âsupport zero emissions travel, provide a safer environment for cyclists and pedestrians, and promote active and liveable communities.â The details of the program âwill be developed in consultation with states and territoriesâ and will be made public before the rollout, which will begin on July 1, 2025. Advocacy group WeRide has praised the initiative.
- Hereâs a cool story from Kirrily Carberry over at AusCycling about the Cycling Development Foundationâs bike education program in remote Western Australia that âuses the power of the bike to engage with, educate and empower, at-risk and Indigenous youth and communities.â
â¤ď¸ And finally … â¤ď¸
In last weekâs edition I wrote about how it was likely weâd be winding up the Down Under Digest in the weeks ahead. You can follow the link above to read more about why weâre doing that, but at this stage, it looks like next weekâs DUD will be the final edition.
I want to say a big thanks to everyone that reached out with lovely comments after the announcement last week, either via email or in the comments â it really did mean a lot. I hope youâll join me next week for one final edition.
In the meantime, though ⌠you might remember Aussie ultra-endurance cyclist Jack Thompson and the record-breakingly epic ride he did last November on the Munda Biddi Trail, in Western Australia. In horribly hot conditions, Thompson covered 1,067 km in around 60 hours (with just 17 minutes of sleep!), shaving five hours off the fastest-known time for the trail.
Now, the film of that ride is just a few days away, due to come out June 2. Based on the trailer you can see below, this promises to be a fascinating and inspiring piece of video.
Until next time âŚ
This and every other Down Under Digest was made possible by our wonderful members here at Escape Collective. If youâve already signed up, thank you. If you havenât yet, but youâd like to, please do. Just click the link in the top right of the page to get started.
If youâd like to receive this round-up via email each week, you can sign up via the button below. And if youâve got a story you think I should include in the next edition, please reach out.
What did you think of this story?