30th January – Surf Coast Classic Men: Lorne – Torquay
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29th January – Surf Coast Classic Women: Lorne – Torquay
A climb from the flag drop made for a fast and hard start, but after some initial splits the race came back together at the front. Team Picnic PostNL were alert to any crosswind danger and made the front group when the peloton splintered in the wind, but once more the head of the race regrouped. From there, it looked destined to be a fast sprint finish into Torquay. Team Picnic PostNL rode strongly as a group to protect fast finisher Rachele Barbieri but in the hectic final couple of kilometres, the team lost each other which meant that Barbieri wasn’t in a position to go for a top result come the finish line.
Team Picnic PostNL coach Matt Winston explained: “The team rode well throughout the day together. They were sharp on attacks and the splits in the crosswinds where we really focused on riding as a group and protecting each other. Then coming into the final and the chaos of the kickers and the big downhill the team lost each other and weren’t able to regroup. That left Rachele a little bit alone and too much in the wind, where she then wasn’t able to sprint properly and towards a good result in the final. We’ll look to learn from this for the next races.”