Young gun. big fun

A firing start to the Big Race Down Under.

By Black Sheep Cycling

January 11^th, 2019

DAY ZERO. bump in

For many, the Women's Tour Down Under is a prologue. A pre-cursor to the main event. A blip on the radar for an industry obsessed by the men's pro peloton. But not us. Since being founded almost five years ago, and with two races under our belt, it has been our goal to be present for the entire Tour Down Under. This year, that ambition came to fruition and it's with a great sense of pride that we have reached a point where we're able to throw our full weight behind Australia's largest cycling event – for the entire Tour. Because let's be honest, cycling is cycling – it transcends gender whether the bike is ridden by a man, woman or child*. And the space (the Chateau), and team (SWR), we've created with Specialized is about making the most of everything cycling in Australia stands for. The joy it brings. The community it creates and inclusivity it nurtures.

The Chateau may or may not be child-friendly after 7pm. No guarantees.

day one. wtDU Stage 1

Hahndorf – Birdwood. 112.9km

Victories are one thing in bike racing. Team spirit is another. Specialized Women's Racing showed the sort of mettle they're made of in the opening stage of the 2019 Women's Tour Down Under. Against a world class field, they worked tirelessly to be present throughout the day. Battling hard against bigger names. More experienced riders. People who can legitimately call themselves professionals. But our women were consummate in the clinical way they delivered the in-form Matilda Raynolds to the finish. It speaks volumes that she was the first domestic-based rider over the line in 7th and yet the team still felt they had more in them. But never for one moment did that disappointment substitute the smiles and incredible camaraderie that has typified the team's approach this sizzling Summer of Cycling.

DAY TWO. WTDU STAGE 2

Nuriootpa – Mengler Hill, Angaston. 116.7km

If there were any niggling doubts about what Specialized Women's Racing could achieve at this level of racing then they were promptly answered today. Our Joey, young 'un Jaime Gunning, and recent surprise (to everyone else) victor of the Shimano SuperCrit was our chosen rider for the day. Barely old enough to drink, Jaime had a day in the South Australian vineyards to remember. In sizzling temperatures, and with the peloton decimated to roughly 30 sweat-sodden riders, it boiled down to the infamous Mengler Hill climb, which averages out at an agonising 9.96%. There was no catching two-times Women's Tour Down Under winner Amanda Spratt but to watch a 20-year-old Jaime Gunning come over the line in 5th, sandwiched between international calibre talent like Rachel Neylan (Team UniSA Australia) and Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio (CCC-Liv) made the hairs on the back of our neck stand up. To see the team's genuinely heartfelt and raucous reaction as the Brisbane-based rider was presented with the U23 Leaders Jersey makes being a part of this team so richly rewarding and helps us realise that we are wholeheartedly fostering the careers of Australia's brightest Young Gun.

We're only two days into our 2019 Tour Down Under experience and already we're incredibly inspired by such an amazing group of women, a team who wears its wins just as well as it does it disappointments.