Two-time Warrny winner left frustrated with lack of action
All eyes were on Matilda Raynolds during the Women’s Warrnambool Cycling Classic, technically racing as part of the Lochard Energy composite team, but in reality as an individual against the top National Road Series (NRS) teams over the 160-kilometre route.
Raynolds has a long history in the ‘Warrny’ having competed in the open event over the full course from Avalon Airport to Warrnambool, winning the race on two occasions before the introduction of the women’s only event in 2023. She was third in that first edition and third again in 2023, finishing behind winner Sophie Edwards (ARA Skip Capital) and Chloe Hosking (Roxsolt Liv SRAM).
Raynolds was more frustrated with the way the race played out than with her performance after the event.
“It was a terrible race to be a part of, even though I love the Warrny,” Raynolds said in an interview with SBS Sport. “Teams weren’t willing to sacrifice riders which I was a bit surprised at. The conditions as well, the headwind all day also made things really difficult.
“Also, the top seven riders from last year had left the peloton, so that affects things. It wasn’t an amazing feeling afterwards, but most of that was that the race was a bit disappointing.
“I place quite a strong emphasis on exciting, entertaining racing and making sure that everyone watching is enjoying the racing. That didn’t really happen yesterday.”
The 35-year-old puncheur was in the thick of the action when the race threatened to break up, driving the pace on the climbs and stringing out the field when attacks threatened to form breaks on the flat, but nothing quite formed as a result of her attempts to force a move clear.
“I did a few soft launches, trying to get the pace up and a few hard gos up the climbs, but in the end it was half an hour crosswind, and one and half hours into the headwind which didn’t help. I think the event’s in good shape, now that more riders know they can get through it, they can race a bit more aggressively in the future.”
The sprint ‘suddenly opened up’ for her in the final dash to the line, meaning that Raynolds had to take the sprint on from further out than she would have hoped, with the podium result a pleasant surprise given the company.
“Obviously, it was long, my fitness was a bit low and I was a bit done with those earlier attacks, but it was all I could have done in that situation,” said Raynolds. “I’m definitely not a pure sprinter, so it was good to get that result knowing how many good sprinters were there in that bunch.
“To say that every time I’ve done Warrny I’ve been on the podium feels like a great achievement and I’ll always be one of the biggest advocates for the race. I think the next step is getting some more professionals there, not to say that the girls there weren’t strong enough, but it will add that extra level.”
The rising star plays her cards
Lucie Fityus has enjoyed a steady rise in NRS racing in recent years, to the point where she’s now a regular challenger for the podium. At 22, with a decade of racing under her belt, Fityus was the team leader for Cycling Development Foundation at the Warrny, with her sprinting ability to be relied upon in the event of a mass finish.
One of the bigger talking points of a more tame race was the most dangerous breakaway of the event, where Fityus, Rachael Wales (ARA Skip Capital) and Lillee Pollock (Team Bridgelane got free of the peloton up the road. Fityus then sat on the move with Pollock and Wales continuing to roll more subdued turns until they were eventually caught by the peloton.
“It was a bit of a controversial breakaway as I’ve found out,” said Fityus. “Some people were of the opinion that I should have done a bit more work to get it further along the road as I was the rider that probably would have won from that group in a sprint.
“But it was a risk, and if I’d put that work in and we’d been caught, I wouldn’t have had any legs for the sprint. I took a calculated risk to back it off and let it get caught.”
Fityus’ plan to save it for the sprint didn’t pay off in the manner she had hoped for. Cramps saw her power numbers well down from her best, but she still managed to finish fifth on the day.
“Unfortunately, I was suffering cramps from 40 kilometres to go and then again in the sprint,” said Fityus. “So, looking at my data, it’s about 10-20 per cent off what I know I can do and a little bit of a letdown.
“I’m still happy with fifth, but I’m hoping to go away, solve that cramping issue and come back gunning for the win next year. Apart from Chloe Hosking, who I haven’t lined up against too often, I’ve beaten all those other girls at least once in sprints, so I know that I can do it, it’s getting everything lined up right to carry it out.”
Fityus has taken a bit of a maverick approach to overseas racing in recent years, with a number of races in Eastern Europe after a chance meeting with a Hungarian team last year during the Tour of Thailand. Fityus is part-Hungarian, speaks enough Magyar to get by, and has family in the country. She was invited to ride with the team in Poland and Slovakia. That team isn’t operating in 2023, but Fityus has plans to get back over to Europe with an Italian team and the potential for some guest rides with a Polish team.
First up however, is the Oceania Championships/Tour de Brisbane. SBS audiences will be able to watch Fityus and the rest of the NRS field (plus New Zealanders and other Oceania confederation members) in action on April 2.
The lone ranger
Nicole Wilson was guest riding for the Cycling Development Foundation, and was the main aggressor of the first half of the race, plugging away in a solo break that formed after 40 of the 160 kilometres raced. She was eventually recaptured when the pace heated up in the peloton on the Great Ocean road some 45 kilometres later.
“We came round a corner and it looked like a move could go, so I was at the front trying to preempt anything. Nothing went, and I was off the front, on the radio asking the girls whether I should stay out or go back to the bunch. The start of the race was relatively tame, as a team we wanted it to be an active race.
“While Lucie (Fityus) is a fast finisher, we wanted to make things interesting. All the girls train really hard, and racing is where you get to showcase that, not just sit around and have a coffee tap. So I kept with it for 45 kilometres or so, but not go full throttle so I’d have something to help Lucie at the finish.”
Wison had a signature style during the race, her prescription glasses favoured over cycling glasses to prevent eye strain over the longer period of the Warrny.
“If someone can make cycling prescription sunglasses that look cool, I’m all ears, but at the moment there’ are not too many options,” said Wilson. “I have some where the lens sits behind the standard cycling lens, but if it’s hot or rainy then they fog. So, the standard glasses are what I’ve got.”
Wilson nearly nabbed the Queen of the Mountains prize for the day, with the points tied after Team Bridgelane’s Gina Ricardo took the points from the first mountains QOM, and then Wilson scooped the remaining places out on the road, with a sprint from Hannah Seeliger surprising Ricardo and making them equal on points with the mountains tiebreaker the final finishing place.
Nicole Wilson of Cycling Development Foundation during the Lochard Energy Melbourne to Warrnambool Women’s Cycling Classic on Feburary 5, 2023, Victoria, Australia. Photo by Con Chronis Credit: Con Chronis/Con Chronis
“The goal is to race at the NRS level, I’m looking to do that as much as I can," said Wilson. “It’s making that transition from state racing to national level racing and having Cycling Development Foundation giving me the opportunity to ride was great.”
