Santos Women’s Tour 2017 Preview

By David Hunter

Get ready for four fast days!

It might be the opening stage, but we’re straight into some GC action! The women have to tackle Paris Creek Road, just before the end of the stage. This will be the definitive stage for the GC, even though it’s the opening day.

Stage 2

This is a short criterium, a nice day for the sprinters.

The third stage is another for the GC riders. The main difficulty is the Whispering Wall, which has to be climbed on two occasions. Expect Orica to try and make their quality count and attack the first ascent, saying that, if the first lap is slow, I expect some tough sprinters to make it to the end. This is a stage where a climbing sprinter can certainly do well.

Stage 4

The final stage is another criterium. Expect a fast one.

Contenders

Katrin Garfoot – after her brilliant double in the nationals, the defending champion arrives as the big favourite for the race. She is clearly flying just now and is riding for the best team, that puts her into a fantastic position.

Amanda Spratt – despite “only” picking up silver in the road race, Spratty is on great form.  Orica will be delighted to have two top class athletes for this race. It allows them to play tactics and apply pressure to the other teams. Not bad considering they can also call upon the help of Annemiek Van Vleuten, who I expect to ride in support of her teammates.

Dani King – has already been over in Australia for a while, getting used to the hot conditions. She performed very well here in 2016, finishing 4th on GC, with the same time as the race winner. This is her first race for the Cylance team, she’ll be looking for a fast start.

Tiff Cromwell – a solid performance in the road race shows she has good legs and will clearly benefit from team support, rather than having to fend for herself. Despite seemingly being around forever, Cromwell is still just 28 years old. Last season hinted at a return to past glories, we’ll soon see if that promise will turn into real results.

Carlee Taylor – what a great performance in the road race, shame she can’t sprint! That only served as an appetiser for what she can achieve in 2017. Like some of the others, she had to ride for herself on Sunday, but now she has her new team around her. The Ale Cipollini team looks a good fit for Carlee and I think we’ll see the best out of her in 2017.

Peta Mullens – despite all the talk of great form, Mullens was very disappointing in the road race. Maybe it was just a bad day, or maybe all the pre-race talk was rubbish! She is an outstanding racer, hopefully we’ll see her challenging for the podium.

Lucy Kennedy – took bronze on Sunday, a brilliant result for the Aussie. Riding for the High5 Dream team, she now has some pressure on her shoulders. Kennedy is a very consistent rider, one that always goes well in the local Aussie scene. There is no reason why she shouldn’t follow up her bronze with another big result.

Shannon Malseed – she continued her strong start to the Aussie summer with a great performance in the road race, finishing in 4th place. She is certainly flying just now and will relish another chance to go up against the stars of Aussie cycling. She comes across as a fighter and having a light frame, she’ll love the look of stage 1.

Lauren Kitchen – the 26 year old has joined WM3 Energie, she’ll now be a teammate of Marianne Vos. Kitchen is a very consistent rider and performs well on home soil, she was 3rd here last year. She’ll be expecting to finish high on GC again this year. One drawback is that she is riding for a small, local team.

Sprinters

With two big stages for the sprinters, I think it’s only right I spend some time discussing the quicks.

Nettie Edmondson – the track sensation has promised to do more road racing this year. Put her in position with 200m to go and very few can match her top-end speed. Took a stage here last year and will fully expect another this year.

Chloe Hosking – the ex-teammate of Edmondson, last year she was acting as her final lead-out. Hosking was bitterly disappointed after only finishing 7th in the World Championships, but has plenty of quality. She is now riding for the Ale Cipollini team and should be challenging for sprint victories.

Kirsten Wild – another that was left disappointed after Qatar. Despite a brilliant lead-out, Wild had to settle for silver. She’s another rider that has switched teams, you’ll now see her in the colours of the Cylance team. The cancellation of the Tour of Qatar should see Wild put more significance onto this race.

Prediction Time

I’m going for it and not selecting an Orica rider, despite the obvious power of Spratt and Garfoot. Instead I will go local and pick Carlee Taylor. The road race will have had a positive impact on her and stage 1 is much more suited to her capabilities. If she wins that stage, there should be enough help to keep Orica at bay during stage 3.

On yourself Carlee!

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