Former Australian champion Amanda Spratt was the highest place Australian finisher today, also the highest placed for her squad Team BikeExchange in 22nd place in a hard and aggressive finale to the second women’s WorldTour race of the season, Trofeo Alfredo Binda.
Attacking action really kicked off in the final 40 kilometres of racing, with numerous attacks, including a solo move by Cromwell, not being given much leash by the peloton as they kept the pace high on the laps around Cittglio.
Gigante was then prominent at the head of affairs as Trek-Segafredo tried a number of attacks which looked to soften up the peloton.
Italian champion Elisa Longo- Borghini (Trek Segafredo) capitalised on those aggressive moves, launching her own attack with 26 kilometres to race, ultimately proving to be the race winning move.
The Trek-Segafredo rider quickly opened up a gap over a select group of five riders that headed off in hot pursuit, attacking away from the peloton on the Orion climb. The race remained much the same from there on in, with the Italian champion crossing the line almost two minutes ahead of the five defeated chasers.
Spratt and Gigante battled on behind, in the second chase group of the road, doing all they could to get themselves back into contention, however it proved to be a fight for the minor placings in Cittiglio. With the result, Gigante moved into the Women's WorldTour Young Rider Classification despite it being her first WorldTour race of the season.
"It was so awesome to be back racing with my teammates in Europe," Gigante said. "Kicking things off with Trofeo Alfredo Binda turned out to be a great plan because it was a super fun race, and we all came together as a unit really well."
"I tried to attack the last climbs in a last ditch attempt to catch the leaders, but in the end, we finished in a big group of chasers, with Lauren (teammate Lauren Stephens) in a strong 16th and me a bit behind in 23rd."
"It's a special feeling to be in the lead of the Women's WorldTour Young Rider Classification too, which came as a complete surprise after the race. Bring on the next one!"
Spratt has previously finished second in what is her home-away-from-home race, close to her European hub in Varese.
“It was a tough race," said Spratt. "I feel a bit disappointed, I definitely wanted a little bit more from my legs and I just didn’t quite have it to go with the top five, I was a little behind and we couldn’t get the gap back after that."
Despite the result, Spratt saw some pleasing signs with Lucy Kennedy and Ane Santesteban contibuting in the finale.
“It was a big improvement from the other girls in the team from Strade and I am really proud to see the way that they stepped up today and I was a good team effort," said Spratt. “Now I have a big training block ahead of the Ardennes which is my biggest target for the early part of the year, so I am really looking forward to that.”
