Georgia Baker claimed gold in the women’s road race at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games 2022, sprinting to the win from the bunch finish as Sarah Roy finished third to claim two medals for Australia.
Baker was convincingly the strongest in the bunch dash to the finish, pulling off the win after a day of committed teamwork from the squad to propel them to the victory.
“It was a real team effort,” Baker said. “We had a race plan, it was for me to win, and they executed it so well.
“I wish I could split this in six. It was a real credit to the team, I’m glad I could pull it off for them.”
The Australians pursued a defensive strategy for the main part of the race, committing riders to either marking attacks and then not contributing to the pace-making.
The most significant move came when Anna Shackley (Scotland), Anna Henderson (England), Niamh Fisher-Black (New Zealand), Alison Jackson (Canada) and Ruby Roseman-Gannon (Australia) going clear with 41 kilometres let to race. Again, it was with the Australian sitting on, and it came back together with 32 kilometres to go and the attacks became a lot less frequent as the major nations settled in for the bunch sprint.
Grace Brown did a power of work to lead the Australian sprint train to within two kilometres to go at the head of affairs and then it was a battling effort by Brodie Chapman, Ruby Roseman-Gannon and Alex Manly to keep Baker in the front against the competing sprint train of Wales.
Baker was dropped off at the top of a rise with 300 metres to go that saw her launch the final sprint to the line, pushing clear of her rivals with the jump to finish a convincing winner, with Neah Evans (Scotland) finishing second, with Sarah Roy finishing third for an impressive double medal race for the Aussies.
The 27-year-old Tasmanian added the road race gold to her points race victory last week, bringing the Australian cycling team gold medals to 11 for the Commonwealth Games.
In the men’s it was Luke Plapp who took up the challenge to try and claim gold and match his partner’s achievements. Plapp was part of a large breakaway that got away mid-race with the major nations all represented.
The Australian squad was a depleted one, after Michael Matthews and Kaden Groves withdrew ahead of competition and then Caleb Ewan (collarbone surgery) and Rohan Dennis (hospitalisation with stomach issue) withdrew closer to the event.
That left the team without a recognised sprinter and there was an Aussie either shutting down a move with a teammate present or attacking up the road in the first half of the race, with Luke Durbridge particularly active.
However, it was Plapp who made the eventual breakaway, and after the 15-strong group was slimmed down by attacking riding, the 21-year-old arrived with a group of seven into the final kilometres that had just caught an attack of two riders.
Geraint Thomas (Wales) used the catch to make a solo move with just over two kilometres remaining, and England’s Ben Turner mounted a desperate chase to bring back the Tour de France former winner. With Thomas within striking distance in the final kilometre, Plapp came from the back of the group with an attack that overhauled Thomas and saw him with a small gap on the rest of the group.
It didn’t prove to be enough as Turner kept the group close enough for teammate Fred Wright to launch the sprint, but it quickly became apparent that New Zealander Aaron Gate was the fastest in the dash to the line, the Kiwi picking up gold ahead of Daryl Impey (South Africa) and Finn Crockett (Scotland).
Plapp finished in sixth place, happy to have made an attempt to go for the win.
“We had three fast guys in the team that couldn’t be here. It really did throw a spanner in the works with our strategy,” Plapp said.
“But look, us Aussies, we still put in and we tried to make something happen. We got in the move and we put ourselves in the race like Aussies do.
“I was out there just to throw some bombs and see what went off.”
Gate claimed his fourth medal of the Commonwealth Games, the 31-year-old continuing a career that has seen him switch back-and-forth between ambitions on the road and the track.
“We saw last week how fast Gatey was and how strong he was,” Plapp said of his decision to attack.
“I needed some hesitation to try to break away. I tried to go once the the English had tired themselves out, but Gatey’s a class above in speed.”
