In a pre-race press conference held during the Under-23 men’s race, the women’s team put forward a strong case for why they’ll be among the top contenders for the worlds road race. The whole team spoke at times about the camaraderie within the squad of experienced professionals, the majority of which have raced with and against each other for years at Women’s WorldTour level.
SBS Sport takes a look at each rider's prospects and likely role for the race ahead, alongside what they said at the press conference.
Amanda Spratt
The Australian climber has finished on the podium twice at the world championships road race for second and third in 2018 and 2019. The veteran of nine previous world championships is coming off an interrupted season.
After making a recovery from an operation to correct iliac artery endofibrosis, Spratt had a slower start to the season while building form but appeared back in good form at the Giro d’Italia Donne before contracting COVID and withdrawing from the race. She then went to the Tour de France Femmes, but crashed and couldn’t continue past Stage 2. Now, in Wollongong, she feels ready to make a difference.
“It’s been an up-and-down season, a lot of disappointments, but still a lot of good moments where I see my form coming back to its best,” said Spratt. “I’ve had a nice uninterrupted preparation in with some solid races and results and that’s been really nice.
“If anything, I’m coming into this part of the season fresher than normal, sometimes it’s a battle to get to the end but I’m fresher than normal and ready for tomorrow.”
Spratt emphasised that she won’t be the only card for the Australians to play, with many options for the Australians on the varied course.
“It suits the whole team really,” said Spratt. “Having numbers on the final circuit is going to be crucial and we’ve got some girls that have been really good in WorldTour races recently so we’re in a strong position.”
The 35-year-old was also asked how the lack of race radios would affect the race.
“It’s certainly different,” said Spratt. “Personally, I like the fact that we don’t have race radios and I think it’s an advantage for us as we’re all really good at racing on our instincts, communicating well, and really understanding each other.
“It does mean really being on the ball and communicating quickly when something’s happening. You see other nations – like Holland at the Olympics – when half the team didn’t know there was a rider up the road but for us, it’s an advantage in having riders that really understand bike racing.”
Grace Brown
Grace Brown of FDJ Nouvelle - Aquitaine Futuroscope celebrates winning ahead of Katarzyna Niewiadoma of Canyon//Sram Racing and Elisa Longo Borghini of Trek - Segafredo during the 8th The Women's Tour 2022 - Stage 4. Credit: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images
“I’m feeling really good,” said Brown. “It’s actually been quite a long week between the time trial and road race so I’m eager for race day now.
“I couldn’t relax the whole week, I needed to do some training and keep the legs in good condition for the race tomorrow. So, hopefully, it will be all right.”
Alex Manly
It’s been a career season for the track and road specialist, taking results and impressing right through from the summer of cycling to the roads of Europe. She’s shown a particular aptitude for the hilly races like the Women’s Tour (4th), Tour of Scandinavia (3rd) and the Deutschland Tour (1st, also winning four stages).
This course is arguably a bit harder than most of those challenges and her dominance in Germany came against a lesser field, but Manly is rightly regarded as one of Australia’s top contenders for this race and will be dangerous from any group sprinting for the win.
Georgia Baker
Baker and Manly are best friends, having spent years together now on track and road and they again formed a top partnership with Manly delivering Baker for gold in the Commonwealth Games. It’s likely to be a role reversal at the World Championships, Baker isn’t as strong on the climbs and it would be surprising to see her last until the final laps, so she’ll be working for the rest of the team here.
Brodie Chapman
It’s been an active season for the Aussie in the classics and that should stand her in very good stead for the road race’s steep climbs. Chapman was most impressive at the Tour of Flanders where she was prominent with a late move, then backing it up soon after with a solo win in GP de Chambery.
Fourth overall in the Tour de Suisse and strong rides in the Giro d’Italia Donne and the Challenge by La Vuelta rounded out a very strong season for the 31-year-old.
Her focus during the press conference was on the team’s performance, and her characteristics as a rider tend towards her launching a long-range attack for other teams to try and chase down. That either has the effect of tiring the other teams out, or seeing Chapman win, both good outcomes for Australia.
“We’ve had a lot of discussion around our main goals and then work backwards through the process,” said Chapman. “That involves stuff like really being reliant on our team values and what our focus is going to have to be to achieve our goal. It’s no secret that our goal is to be on the podium, like I’m sure everyone here.”
Most of the team were present at the Commonwealth Games, only Spratt and Talbot are additions to the squad that took out gold and bronze in the road race. That day, it was a very defensive performance by the Australian team shutting down moves, Saturday will be a different approach against stiffer competition on a much harder course.
“It’s hard to control a race like this in all honesty,” said Chapman. “The Commonwealth Games, we anticipated a sprint and made sure that it was going to be a sprint finish. Tomorrow there a lot of different ways it could play out, we’ve obviously considered a lot of different scenarios, but based on the parcours it’s going to be quite attritional. Having a big and talented peloton is also going to make it selective.”
Sarah Roy
Roy took third place in that Commonwealth Games race, sweeping Baker’s wheel and then sprinting behind the eventual winner and also marking attacks during the race. She’s been utilised mostly in a team role by trade squad Canyon-SRAM throughout the season, but she has good classics pedigree and a good sprint.
While unlikely to go with the punchiest riders on the climbs, Roy is adept at tough races, and will definitely play some sort of role in the final, if she finds herself in the right break, she could surprise, like she did to win the national road race title.
“I think it’s a really challenging course, challenging as well. It does suit our team, with the depth that we have and the girls getting some really big throughout the year and recently,” said Roy. “It’s quite hard to predict on Mt Keira, it’s a longer climb, but it comes quite early into the race, there’s still a lot that can happen afterwards.
“The shorter climb is really tough and there are quite a number of steps to it. Obviously, there are the technical aspects after it, especially with the rain that’s going to be around. We can be quite confident and excited and go in with a positive attitude. We’re all really experienced and have a great strategy.”
Roy’s comments also elicited the biggest laugh of the press conference as she complimented her teammates' personalities.
“First of all, we’re all cool, genuine people,” Roy said to the laughs of her teammates in response to a question about teamwork. “As a nation, we’ve created a culture where each rider is highly valued and that’s known to them. Every one of us has an equally important role and everyone knows how their role contributes to that result.”
Josie Talbot
The Australian has just recently had a deal for next season with Cofidis announced, the goal of moving back to Europe with the UCI team realised for the next two seasons.
‘I’m super excited, I’m just in disbelief,” said Talbot. “I’m just trying to enjoy the moment, before we know it the week will be over.”
The Illawarra local qualified for the worlds team by winning the Oceania road race and securing an extra spot that could only be filled by her. Talbot is renowned as a versatile sprinter, but she’s likely to be utilised in a domestique role here.
