Cyclingflash
Ally Wollaston speeds to third season win at Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race 2026

Ally Wollaston speeds to third season win at Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race 2026

After two stages in the Tour Down Under, Ally Wollaston also won the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race 2026. The 25-year-old New Zealander from FDJ United-SUEZ was too fast in the streets for Josie Nelson (Picnic PostNL) and Mireia Benito (AG Insurance-Soudal). Wollaston wins for the second year in a row, having been the fastest last year, as well.

The women's Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race is slightly shorter than the men’s race at 145 kilometers. The course, however, is almost the same. The race also starts and finishes in Geelong but has one less loop in the finale. The climb of Challambra Crescent (1 kilometer at 9.8 percent) is crucial here as well. The last time the women tackle that climb is about ten kilometers from the finish line.

An early breakaway quickly formed, but unfortunately for Petra Stiasny (Human Powered Health), no one was willing to join her in the very pleasant weather conditions (26 degrees Celsius with even an occasional stray raindrop). The Swiss rider was given a free pass by the peloton, After just under ten kilometers, she had already built a three-minute lead, which extended to five and a half minutes after ten more kilometers. Ultimately, she would build a maximum advantage of eight minutes.

Her lead, however, diminished as the wind picked up and top teams like FDJ United-SUEZ, Visma | Lease a Bike, and Picnic PostNL shielded their leaders from the wind. With 55 kilometers to go, Stiasny’s advantage was just under two and a half minutes, after which FDJ United-SUEZ decided that this was enough and dropped back from the front of the peloton. AG Insurance-Soudal then took over and tried to split the race in the crosswind. They succeeded, but the wind was not strong enough to keep the echelon under way.

Stressful finale
After that, everyone was alert and the race resulted in a very nervous finale. Because of this, Stiasny’s adventure ended on the first climb of Challambra Crescent. The hectic pace caused several crashes. Among those who went down were Lotte Claes (Fenix-Premier Tech) and Gaia Realini (Lidl-Trek). On the climb, climbing talent Paula Blasi launched her compatriot and teammate Mavi García, who was then joined by world champion Magdeleine Vallieres (EF Education-Oatly). Another thirteen riders bridged across.

In the lightning-fast descent, part of the peloton came back. Among them was Sarah Van Dam from Visma | Lease a Bike, but the Canadian rider also crashed with 21.5 kilometers to go. She fell back into a chasing group, from which she was able to rejoin the peloton 16 kilometers from the finish. On the second and final ascent of Challambra Crescent, Vallieres attacked again. Wollaston was dropped and had to close the gap by herself.

No match for strong Wollaston
García kept attacking repeatedly, but no one managed to open a significant gap. Former winner Rosita Reijnhout (Visma | Lease a Bike) tried to escape after the descent. Her attack caused a strong reaction and opened a good gap. Wollaston had by then impressively returned, after which her teammate Amber Kraak took the front to lead the chase. In the final kilometers, García attacked several times again and even launched the sprint first, She clearly felt strong until the New Zealand whirlwind thundered past. Wollaston was unbeatable.