There was more than one Australian that had every reason to be satisfied with their efforts at the front of the field in the women’s elite race at Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Grace Brown (FDJ-Suez) was deservedly in the spotlight after claiming an impressive victory but a long stint out the front solo earlier in the race from AG Insurance-Soudal’s Sarah Gigante also delivered another cause for celebration.
The 23 year old who began the season with victory at the first Women’s WorldTour event of the season, the Tour Down Under, hasn’t had a chance to race to Liège before – a horrible crash at La Flèche Wallonne in 2021 ultimately led to an unexpected three year delay in her debut at the race that looks well-suited to her strengths.
That’s probably why it should come as no surprise that the irrepressible Australian wasn’t going to sit back and let the opportunity to make a mark disappear when her original plan for an early attack worked in one way, but not another. Gigante did indeed get away from the peloton as hoped with 135 kilometres of the 153km race remaining, but without any company.
“The idea was to get away with a small group, but eventually, I found myself alone, so I decided to seize the opportunity,” said Gigante in a team statement. “With little experience in European breakaways, I utilised the gap I had. I rode 60 kilometers solo, pushing on, hoping that others would join, but no one did.”
That left Gigante forging on alone, slipping into time trial mode to push the gap out out beyond three minutes. Eventually a small group, including winner Brown, joined the third year WorldTour professional who – through injury, health and circumstance – has had limited opportunity to race in Europe. Still there was no crumbling for the early solo attacker when Joined by the fresher legs of the chase group.
“The encouragement from the crowd, including fans from other teams, was overwhelming,” said Gigante of her day at the front of the race.
“On the Col du Rosier, eight riders joined me, and I worked with them until La Redoute, where I lost touch at the top,” said the rider who held onto the lead group for more than 20km.
“Although my legs were exploding, I kept fighting. I ended up in the chasing group and was finally caught by the peloton on the last climb.”
The end result was a 44th place finish for Gigante, who moved from Movistar to AG Insurance-Soudal at the start of this season. It was perhaps not a memorable number on the results sheet but was an experience that will be hard to forget.
“Exhausted but satisfied,” was how Gigante characterised her day. “This was undoubtedly the best race I have ever run in Europe. I am very happy with how I rode and that I followed our team plan to attack early. This race is now my favorite among the Classics.”
What’s more Gigante wasn’t the only young rider from the region who stood out on Sunday, with 22-year-old Kim Cadzow (EF Education-Cannondale) of New Zealand coming to the line with the lead group to claim sixth while compatriot Niamh Fisher-Black (SD Worx-Protime) came tenth and Australia’s Neve Bradbury (Canyon-SRAM) was eleventh.
Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes may have just got its first winner from Australia, but after this edition of the race it also seems there are no shortage of riders from the region who have the potential to build on the experience of 2024 and follow Brown to the top step in the years to come.
