World Tour professional Ally Wollaston continued her red-hot start to the international road cycling season to win her first New Zealand elite women’s road race title near Cambridge yesterday.
Wollaston (FDJ United-Suez), who has won the under-23 national road race title twice, managed to out-kick her fellow rivals to snatch the elite victory at the championships.
A select group of seven riders, comprising all the New Zealand current or former World Tour riders, pushed clear early in the 130km race over 13 laps.
Thursday’s time trial champion Ella Wyllie, Mikayla Harvey and Henrietta Christie forced the pace in an attempt to blunt Wollaston’s sprint powers, while former World Tour rider Sharlotte Lucas showed strength late.
But Wollaston, who was prominent early in the race, hung on to the bunch and made her move on the final climb, sprinting her way to the title to chalk up her fourth win in four weeks.
The road championships conclude this morning with the elite and under-23 men over 20 laps of the same 9.6km course. — Allied Media
