Australian champion Ruby Roseman-Gannon has been gifted her first WorldTour triumph, winning the final stage of the Tour of Britain after a rival threw away the chance of victory by celebrating too early in a bizarre finish.
Roseman-Gannon, the 25-year-old Melbourne star who took both the Criterium and road race titles at the national championships, just couldn't believe it when Luxembourg's Christine Majerus sat up just before the line at the race finish in Leigh, raising her arm in triumph believing she had won.
But it was a calamitous miscalculation as Roseman-Gannon stormed through in the wet conditions in stage around Greater Manchester to pip the Dutchwoman to the victory by less than half a wheel.
"I still canât believe I have won that - itâs my first European win and Iâm still in shock," beamed Roseman-Gannon, who had to check afterwards with her opponents and officials to find out whether she had actually prevailed.
"Itâs when you really don't expect it, some races you come in as a leader and you have a lot of pressure, and other races you come in and it all works out," added the spearhead of the Liv AlUla Jayco team.Â
"Today I was pretty worried about the rain and I was nervous about crashing and I wasn't really in the right mindset that I was going to win the race - but to win is amazing. Overall it was a great race!â
But the final stage proved a bit of an embarrassment to the all-conquering SD Worx-ProTime team as their overall race winner, Lotte Kopecky, tried to 'gift' the final stage to her teammate Majerus.
With Belgian world champ Kopecky's overall triumph secured, she eased up with 250 metres left to let Majerus win the day, but the terrible miscalculation let in the Australian.
Belgian Kopecky eventually crossed in fourth place but had done enough to clinch the title, finishing 17 seconds clear in the general classification with Briton Anna Henderson second. Roseman-Gannon ended up ninth overall as the leading Australian 2 minutes 50 seconds behind.
"We made this deal that she is going to win today but maybe it was a stupid mistake." Kopecky admitted.
"I still, however, would have done the same. It could have been a nice ending for Christine, but we finished well as a team.
"Maybe it is a little funny and it is what it is, and I'm not disappointed."
