It was a late attack with just over four kilometres that netted the Tasmanian the victory, a gap opened up through an aggressive approach to a corner expanding into a race-winning advantage as she held off an elite group to win solo and claim her first national road championships title.
“I don’t have any words, I’m so happy," exclaimed an ecstatic Frain after the finish as she hugged her teammates.
"When I attacked, I thought I’d trust my cornering and see what happened, but when I opened the gap, I had to go all-in. The girls I was up against, I’m generally not going to outsprint Ruby (Roseman-Gannon), especially with the form she’s in at the moment."
Roxsolt Liv SRAM was the main aggressor of the race, with Emily Herfoss and Matilda Field going on the attack, allowing Frain to have an armchair ride back in the peloton.
"It made it easy once Emily went up the road, it made it easy for us and gave us a rest in the bunch, we didn’t need to do anything and then obviously Tilly went next," said Frain. "Justine and I were the freshest there, another few laps and it worked out perfectly!
"It was for Emily and I, we were trying to go for it. Justine made it hard over the climb… just such a good job and I’m so happy for us!”
After a few quiet laps without a break, the race really started with 55 km to go, as Justine Barrow (Roxsolt Liv SRAM) upped the pace, resulting in the fracturing of the peloton. Over the top of the climb a number of attacks tried to force their way clear, with a trio of Georgie Howe (Knights of Suburbia), Alex Manly (BikeExchange-Jayco) and Matilda Raynolds (Inform TMX MAKE) establishing off the front.
Their advantage would last less than a lap, with the continued pace-setting of Barrow on the climb reeling them back in. A brief surge over the top of the climb with 43 kilometres to go from Grace Brown (FDJ Nouvelle Aquitaine Futuroscope) saw the main favourites scramble to respond.
Emily Herfoss (Roxsolt Liv SRAM) went solo off the disruption caused by the half-attack, surging out to immediately get a solid gap. Raynolds tried to bridge and was marked by Matilda Field (Roxsolt Liv SRAM) who sat on her wheel as she tried to make it across to Herfoss.
Herfoss built out a lead of a minute and forty seconds, with Raynolds and Field making inroads into her advantage gradually. They caught Herfoss with 23 kilometres remaining, immediately dropping her as they headed up the climb for the second-last time.
The pair were being hunted by the peloton, with Ruth Corset (Velofit) and Neve Bradbury (Canyon-SRAM) trying some attacks over the steeper sections of Mt Buninyong, dramatically reducing the advantage down to 40 seconds with 16 kilometres remaining.
The pair were being hunted by the peloton, with Ruth Corset (Velofit) and Neve Bradbury (Canyon-SRAM) trying some attacks over the steeper sections of Mt Buninyong, dramatically reducing the advantage down to 40 seconds with 16 kilometres remaining.
On the final ascent of Mt Buninyong, it was Raynolds who proved the strongest from the front duo, dropping Field with an acceleration as the peloton loomed behind, with Barrow leading the way and overtaking the lone leader. There were just ten riders left in the front group over the top of the climb with a couple of riders able to rejoin as the main group sorted itself out.
Rachel Neylan (Cofidis) used her nous to attack during lulls in the pace, with the group neutralizing those moves as they approached the finish in Buninyong.
Frain used one of the technical corners in the Federation University section of the course to make her own acceleration, ekeing out an advantage from the rest of the group. She was able to increase her lead gradually as there wasn’t a clear chase from those behind with Alex Manly and Amber Pate surging at the front rather than doing a sustained chase.
Coming into the downhill into Buninyong, it was Frain’s race to lose and she powered to the line to complete a famous victory. Roseman-Gannon launched her sprint very early to try and pull back the lead, with Grace Brown rounding her to finish second with Alyssa Polites (Sydney Uni-Staminade) finishing third, also claiming the Under 23 women’s road race.
