Neylan takes win on final climb in France

 

Riding in the five-strong High5 GoExPro Australian Women’s Road Development Team, Neylan called for diligent race craft from her teammates collective race craft in order to help her get to the front and grab the maximum UCI points, a task the team excelled at throughout the 109km race that consisted of five longer 13.9 kilometer laps and five shorter 7.7 kilometer laps. 

 

Riding at an average speed of 35.278km/h throughout the race, Neylan praised her team for doing exactly what was needed before she launched one final attack for victory. 

 

"The way the girls rode today shows how they have grown and matured in Europe," Neylan told Cycling Australia. 

 

"I couldn’t have won without them. The team tactics today were invaluable to my win, and I’m so proud of the way they were able execute all the way up until the point I launched my attack. They raced with such heart and such commitment. I couldn’t be any prouder or more grateful."

 

Sport Director Donna Rae-Szalinski had expected the race to be a battle of attrition, the route commanding that riders ascend the punchy Cadoudal on each of the ten laps of the race. 

 

"We were lucky because the circuit had some similarities to our national championships in Buninyong, so we know how to pace over a course where you do a climb like that 10 times," Rae-Szalinski outlined to Cycling Australia. 

 

“The French team was determined from the start, and they attacked out of the block. It was good for us because we could cover selectively rather than be the aggressors. We wanted to save most of our matches for the end of the race."

 

However it wasn’t just the French team that posed a significant threat, a larger than expected group had come together by the second last lap. Unsure of her chances in a large bunch, Neylan and her team began launching calculated attacks to reduce the size of the leading bunch. 

 

"I had asked my teammates to be smart and calculated with their attacks," said Neylan. 

 

"It’s exactly what they did. It wasn’t in my favour that there was still a big peloton, and they did everything they could to reduce the field."

 

However it was with two kilometers left that the move for victory was made, with Neylan’s teammate and Oceania champion Shannon Malseed making a jump. As the climb to the finish loomed, Neylan dropped the hammer and chased the victory. 

 

"I basically looked around me and saw that there were still far too many girls in the peloton for my liking, and I knew I had to do something,” Neylan reflected. 

 

"I had it in the big ring. I dropped it down a few. And then I put my head down and launched the absolute biggest attack I could. 

 

"This was all or nothing. I was either going to win the damn bike race or blow spectacularly trying."

 

"I came here with a clear and simple objective in mind, and the way my teammates were riding around me inspired me until the last moment.” 

 

"I knew I had the legs. I know that kind of power climb suits me. It was just a matter of backing myself and trusting my instinct. It was a very long and painful kilometre, and I’m so happy I could finish off the work my teammates had done for me all day."

 

Originally posted by Cycling Australia as “RACHEL NEYLAN WINS GRAND PRIX DE PLUMELEC-MORBIHAN”.