Gracie Elvin has recorded a hard fought stage victory at the Internationale Thuringen Rundfahrt der Frauen, attacking the peloton early and riding 60 kilometres solo to the finish.
“Winning solo is definitely a bit of a dream for a lot of riders, especially when you’ve been away for quite a while,” Elvin said. “It’s tough and you are 50/50 whether you are going to stay away and you just have to dig deep.”
Elvin was left on her own after attacking in the first 20 kilometres of the stage. She quickly opened up a gap of two minutes which proved to be too much for the peloton to overcome. The course was a technical one with sections of cobbles and as the rain came down, Elvin could sense it would be her day.
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“It was good conditions for me with the cobbles and quite a technical course, and then as soon as it started raining I thought ‘yeh, you know what, this is my day.’ I love it when it’s a bit like a Classics race, it suits me a lot better and I think a lot of girls hate it so you have the double advantage."
With one lap to go on the four lap course, Elvin knew a the stage victory was insight, but she had to bury herself to finish the job, "with a lap to go I had a good gap so I knew I just had to punish myself. I drove myself into the ground and managed to pull it off.”
To top off a great day for Orica-AIS, Elvin's team mate Emma Johansson, was second across the line, making it a 1-2 for the team.
“I think we rode perfectly."
