Grace Brown wins her second Aussie time trial title
Grace Brown wins her second Aussie time trial title
Grace Brown (FDJ Nouvelle Aquitaine Futuroscope) has ridden her way to a second Australian time trial title, powering to victory in Ballarat’s Federation University on Wednesday afternoon.
Brown, the unbackable pre-race favourite, completed the 28.6 km course in a time of 41:28 – an average speed of 41.37 km/h – more than a minute faster than Amber Pate (Inform TMX Make) who stopped the clock with 42:30. Lisa Jacob (Knights of Suburbia) completed the podium with a 42:40.
Georgie Howe (Knights of Suburbia) set the early running with a time of 42:45 and spent a good stint in the hot seat. It wasn’t until late in proceedings that Amber Pate (Inform TMX Make) set a new best time of 42:30, but that mark didn’t last long.
After setting the fastest time at the halfway point – and having caught last year’s bronze medalist Nicole Frain (Roxsolt Liv SRAM) by then – Brown powered home to earn herself another year in the green and gold bands of Aussie TT champ.
“I really wanted to get this for FDJ,” Brown said.” I think a lot of people were expecting me to win it as well, so it’s nice to have that done now. It was a pretty hard race, actually; it didn’t come easy. I’m proud of the effort and happy to have the jersey for the year.
“FDJ really respect the national champion’s jersey. I think it’s really special to have the colours and I’m looking forward to seeing what they produce with the Australian TT suit.”
Brown last won the Aussie TT title in 2019. She finished second in 2020 and 2021 behind Sarah Gigante (Movistar) who is absent from this year’s Road Nationals as she continues her recovery from myopericarditis.
Brown will be hoping her win today isn’t the end of her medal haul at this year’s Road Nationals. She’s the hot favourite to win the road race on Sunday as well – a title she’s yet to win.
In the U23 women’s race, held at the same time as the elite women’s, Anya Louw (ARA Pro Racing) claimed the gold medal with a time of 43:31 – just over two minutes behind Brown. She was joined on the podium by Alyssa Polites (Sydney Uni Staminade) and Emily Watts (Knights of Suburbia).
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