Corset beats the heat in Buninyong

32 year old Corset, the 2009 Australian Elite Road Cyclist of the Year, broke away on the tenth and final lap of the 102 kilometre women's race to take the green and gold jersey, crossing the line in 3:10:9, eighteen seconds ahead of Victorian Bridie O’Donnell. Germany's Judith Arndt was third.

“I wanted it more than anything,” said Corset, adding, “This has been my goal for a while now and I am just glad that I got it finally.”

Arndt signalled her intention early in the race by launching a solo attack after two laps to lead by almost three minutes at the halfway point.

As the temperature approached 40 degrees, the remainder of the field of 71 worked slowly to bridge the gap.

A lone effort by South Australia’s Rachel Neylan saw her catch Arndt, a four-time Olympian, in the final 30 kilometres, with aggressive attacks shortly after by Corset and O’Donnell making it a race of four at the bell lap.

However the significant moment came on the final climb up Mt Buninyong where Corset rode clear of the trio and setting an unrelenting pace in the final stages to take the title.

“We didn’t really panic, and towards the end, no one was chasing at all, and Emma (Mackie) attacked so I counter attacked and it worked perfectly,” said Corset, who finished twelfth in the womens road race at the 2009 Road World Championships in Switzerland. She admits the conditions were oppressive.

Corset admitted the conditions were oppressive. “It was very hard, the last few laps I was throwing up and couldn’t hold anything down, that last lap was just so hard and my legs were cramping but I just gritted my teeth and just went for it.”

After claiming silver in Wednesday’s time trial, O’Donnell was pleased with her second medal of the week.

“My biggest job was to let the race unfold, I had no teammates here so I just wanted to see who would do the work and hold my nerve and surprise people as they wouldn’t expect me to attack on a climb,” said O’Donnell.

“After a challenging year, it is really good to see the rewards for hard work, sacrifice and discipline."

New South Wales’ Megan Dunn claimed the under 23 classification crossing in seventh, 1:57 behind Corset. South Australia’s Tiffany Cromwel was tenth across the line for the U23 division silver medal and Loren Roney of New South Wales was awarded the U23 division bronze medal.

Women's Road Race (102km):

1. Ruth Corset (QLD) 3h10m09s, 2. Bridie O'Donnell (VIC), 3. Judith Arndt (GER), 4. Rachel Neylan (SA), 5. Vicki Whitelaw (ACT), 6. Amanda Spratt (NSW), 7. Megan Dunn (NSW), 8. Joanne Hogan (VIC), 9. Amber Halliday (SA), 10. Tiffany Cromwell (SA).