Nienke Veenhoven pips Georgia Baker to Down Under Criterium victory
Peloton catches break on final lap at post-Women's Tour Down Under race in Adelaide
Nienke Veenhoven (Visma-Lease a Bike) took a narrow victory at the Down Under Criterium ahead of Georgia Baker (Liv Jayco AlUla) by half a bike length after 50 minutes of breathless racing in Adelaide.
The post-Women's Tour Down Under event played out on a 1.2km circuit at Victoria Park. A 12-rider bunch sprinted it out for the victory after a leading breakaway was caught at the start of the bell lap.
Veenhoven's Visma-Lease a Bike team worked tirelessly alongside Women's Tour Down Under overall winner Sarah Gigante (AG Insurance-Soudal) to catch the break led by Nienke Vinke (DSM-Firmenich PostNL) and FDJ-Suez and were rewarded with victory.
Lidl-Trek's Lauretta Hanson took third with Sofia Bertizzolo (UAE Team ADQ) and Soraya Paladin (Canyon SRAM) rounding out the top five.
Veenhoven has a strong track racing pedigree and took second in the scratch race behind Lorena Wiebes (SD-Worx Protime) at last year's Dutch national track championships.
The Women's WorldTour racing at the Tour Down Under finished on Sunday, with Gigante claiming the final stage on top of Willunga and the overall race ahead of Vinke.
Get unlimited access to all of our coverage of the Tour Down Under and Women’s Tour Down Under, including reporting from Australia, breaking news and analysis. Find out more.
Results
Results powered by FirstCycling
Thank you for reading 5 articles in the past 30 days*
Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read any 5 articles for free in each 30-day period, this automatically resets
After your trial you will be billed £4.99 $7.99 €5.99 per month, cancel anytime. Or sign up for one year for just £49 $79 €59
Join now for unlimited access
Try your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
James Moultrie is a gold-standard NCTJ journalist who joined Cyclingnews as a News Writer in 2023 after originally contributing as a freelancer for eight months, during which time he also wrote for Eurosport, Rouleur and Cycling Weekly. Prior to joining the team he reported on races such as Paris-Roubaix and the Giro d’Italia Donne for Eurosport and has interviewed some of the sport’s top riders in Chloé Dygert, Lizzie Deignan and Wout van Aert. Outside of cycling, he spends the majority of his time watching other sports – rugby, football, cricket, and American Football to name a few.
Latest on Cyclingnews
-
Funding complications, absent greats and tactical quandaries – Gravel World Championships talking points
A closer look at key issues kicking up dust on run-in to third edition of UCI gravel world title chase -
'I've still got races this year' – Mark Cavendish confirms 2024 Tour de France not final event of career
Sprinter receives knighthood from Prince William – 'not something I could ever have dreamed of' -
World and Olympic champion Grace Brown becomes new president of The Cyclists' Alliance
Australian to succeed Iris Slappendel as head of foundation -
Le Tour de Langkawi: De Kleijn wins again on stage 5
Dutchman beats Malucelli and Syritsa in Melaka sprint finish