Rolling circuit sees Team Picnic PostNL and Josie Nelson 3rd on uphill finale

The second day of action in Australia saw the typical summer sun blaze down over Team Picnic PostNL the peloton as they headed towards Paracombe and a rolling finish circuit. Immediately the pace was on from the start on the longest climb of the day with the bunch splintering into pieces, with Josie Nelson and Juliana Londoño making the reduced front peloton. Things settled down though, with everyone returning, and the race fell into a more familiar rhythm. Unfortunately, Becky Storrie was involved and a crash and although she could continue, her group was too far behind as they hit the local laps around Paracombe so they DNF’d.

Back in the peloton, the team did well to help control a few attacks, in particular pulling hard in the finale to bring back a dangerous five rider move that was up the road with only a few kilometres remaining. Nelson then surfed the wheels excellently as the road gradually kicked upwards in the final kilometre, biding her time well before unleashing a strong effort to take third place on the day.

Nelson reflected: “The race kicked off right from the first kilometre on the climb but we got over it well. The weather was even hotter today so it made the undulating course even harder, so it was important that we kept cool. The whole day was hard and it was quite tough staying together over all the climbs. Unfortunately Becky crashed and had to abandon the race so we’re wishing her a quick recovery. The circuit was pretty full gas with lots of attacks but we stayed near the front and the girls helped pull back a break of five that went away in the final lap. I positioned myself well going into the final kilometre and backed up yesterday’s result with another podium today so I’m really pleased. We’re sat second on GC so the pressure is on for tomorrow but I’m looking forward to seeing how my climbing legs are, and giving it my best shot.”

Team Picnic PostNL coach Matt Winston continued: “It was another good job from the team overall today. We made a few small mistakes going into the local laps and were out of position when the attacks started and the bunch split, but we showed some good teamwork to bring it back together and get Josie back in the front. Things then settled for a bit, before some more attacks, and we helped close down the strong five rider move in the final to set up a sprint, but it was super hard in the 38 degree heat; everyone was on their limit. In the end Josie could take third so another podium is a nice result for us, and we’ll see how things go tomorrow.”