WorldTour-bound Ruby Roseman-Gannon produced a stunning farewell to ARA Pro Racing Sunshine Coast in her final race with the team, clinching the USC Cycle Sunshine Coast crown with a clean sweep of all four stage wins.
All four of the inaugural USC Cycle Sunshine Coast stages were decided by sprint finishes, with the Melburnian talent showing exactly why BikeExchange-Jayco secured her signature for the next two years.
Roseman-Gannon ended the race with a six-second victory in the Stage 4 6.2km individual time trial to increase her winning general classification buffer to 39 seconds ahead of Josie Talbot in second and Sydney Uni-Staminade's Georgie Whitehouse in third.
“It’s pretty special because it’s my first time here at the university that has supported me for the last two years and it’s my last race for the team,” Roseman-Gannon said.
“I’m super appreciative for ARA Pro Racing Sunshine Coast and the council here and my teammates, all the staff for all the support over the last two years.
“So, it’s the least I could do to finish it off and win GC (general classification).”
The 23-year-old sprinter’s win on the Sunshine Coast adds to her Gibraltar to Inverell win earlier in the interrupted 2021 National Road Series (NRS) season and confirms the overall individual NRS win in her swansong to Australia’s premier domestic racing series.
ARA-Pro Racing Sunshine Coast took out the overall team's classification win for the 2021 National Road Series, the Queensland squad excelling in their home race to help deliver Roseman-Gannon to the win, with teammate Anya Louw fourth overall and winning the young rider's jersey.
Inform TMX Make’s Brenton Jones has vaulted to a commanding NRS tour win at the USC Cycle Sunshine Coast, winning three of the four stages across the weekend.
Jones’ ascendancy over the field was complete on the final day of the inaugural USC Cycle Sunshine Coast, taking out the Stage 3 road race around North Arm in a sprint finish, before setting the fastest time in the concluding 6.2km individual time trial around the USC campus.
“I was literally rubbing my hands together when I saw the first recon lap and I would’ve loved it to have been one lap,” Jones said.
“I think that would’ve even suited me a little bit more and I could have laid out more power and averaged six or seven hundred watts.
“I think the course was fantastic, I loved the technicality of the course - really have to thank the organisers for using this space to put it on … I loved it.”
Sunday’s clean sweep from the former national criterium champion capped off an incredible weekend for the Inform TMX Make’s sprinter, which began with a Stage 1 criterium win under lights in the Maroochydore CBD.
Jones was kept on his heels over the race by ARA Pro Racing Sunshine Coast’s Cam Scott and Team BridgeLane duo Matt Dinham and Jensen Plowright.
Dinham was the only rider to take a stage win away from Jones, winning the 146km Stage 2 road race in Peachester, while Scott ended the USC Cycle Sunshine Coast with a fifth on Stage 1 and three second-place finishes across the remaining three stages.
It was a stellar week for Inform TMX MAKE, with Jones' results leading the way as they wrapped up the National Road Series overall team classification, bringing to an end Team Bridgelane's irresistible run as team winners over the past eleven seasons.
Brigelane's Plowright showcased his consistency across the weekend to finish fourth on general classification.
That result was enough for the soon-to-be Groupama-FDJ Development Team rider to wrap up the overall NRS win in an abbreviated 2021 season, highlighted by his victory in the Melbourne to Warrnambool.
A full recap show from the USC Cycle Sunshine Coast is available on SBS On Demand via the link below.
