Australian Nats road race

Rachel wears Telefónica-backed squad's colours for first time ever in a UCI-sanctioned women's event at Sunday's Australian national championships.

Rachel Neylan (Movistar Team) became the first woman to wear the Blue colours in a UCI event on Sunday as she finished 16th in the elite road race of the 2018 Australian National Championships, held in Victoria and won by youngster Shannon Malseed (TIB).

The 104km lumpy course (nine laps) around Ballarat demanded strong efforts from Neylan, still getting prepared for her first spring races with the rest of the team directed by Jorge Sanz. The Sydney original sticked to the main group until the final two laps after a good fight to keep the front on the slopes of the Mount Buninyong, the big names always pursuing the early, three-woman break with Kate Perry (SPE), Lauren Kitchen (FDJ) and Jessica Allen (MTS).

Neylan had to stay content with a place inside the second main peloton, 2’32” behind the six-up winning sprint, in the first of her two races Down Under this month. Rachel will be back with a bib number from Thursday 11th to Sunday 14th at the Santos Women’s Tour, as part of a UniSA-Australia team where she will share colours with some of her rivals in the Nationals.

Picture (c): Pat Shaw / Kirsty Baxter