Grace Brown takes Wrexham to Welshpool stage win and race lead of Women’s Tour in Wales

Australian Grace Brown (FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope) moved into the Women’s Tour race lead with two days remaining after sprinting to victory on the Wrexham to Welshpool Stage today.

Brown edged out 2017 champion Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon//SRAM Racing) and Elisa Longo Borghini (Trek – Segafredo) to claim the stage four win having initiated the move that took the trio clear five kilometres from the line.

She now leads Niewiadoma by four seconds and Longo Borghini by six going into Friday’s queen stage in Carmarthenshire that finishes atop the Black Mountain.

The Women’s Tour sets out from Wrexham as St Giles rings out 11am 👏 pic.twitter.com/zptOSh3nFg

— Wrexham.com (@wrexham) June 9, 2022

“I had planned before today that I wanted to be aggressive in the final,” said Brown. “It’s cool when you play out your plan and it comes off so I was excited, and also I guess a bit of relief because this is my first win of the year and I’ve been wanting it for a little while.

“We were working consistently most of the time. I guess there was some points where we took the gas off a little bit, but any time that we heard that the gap come down, we notched it up a little. I think when the roads were more climby we got a bit more time, obviously around the lake, where it was flat, the time started coming down quite a bit.

“I wasn’t too concerned [on being joined by Niewiadoma and Longo Borghini], it was actually quite good because you’re more likely to stay away if you’ve got three. Out of everyone there I think I can beat those two in a sprint, so I was quite happy about it actually. It was nice to have them in the final.

“Obviously I want to be up there on the final climb [tomorrow], I think that’s what it’s going to come down to. I’m happy now that I’ve got a little bit of buffer and time, then if I finish with the top climbers then I can hopefully retain the jersey.”

Brown was in a group of 10 riders that went clear on the Hirnant Bank ŠKODA Queen of the Mountains climb approaching Lake Vrynwy. Despite the drive of a Pfeiffer Georgi-led Team DSM that whittled down the peloton and kept threatening to close the gap, it wasn’t to be a hat trick of wins for Lorena Wiebes.

With around five kilometres to go Brown hit out on a small rise to go solo, with Longo Borghini and Niewiadoma the only riders to react as the group fragmented, catching the Australian inside three kilometres to go.

The trio worked together, holding a chasing quartet at 10 seconds, with Longo Borghini leading out the sprint on Broad Street

Speaking afterwards Longo Borghini said; “It was a really lumpy stage, there were some really hard [ŠKODA] QoMs in the middle of the stage and then some more, let’s say flat parts in the end, but still uncategorised hilly parts. It was really really hard. I like the stage here and I’m looking forward to tomorrow.

“With the team we chased back the breakaway. It was away and then the team director told me to go on the first [ŠKODA] QoM, and there we set up a breakaway that stayed away until the end. It was always really close to the bunch but we managed to stay away.

“I’m excited about tomorrow. It’s going to be nice to finish up on the Black Mountain.”

The ŠKODA Queen of the Mountains jersey changed shoulders moving to 2021 winner Elise Chabbey (Canyon//SRAM Racing), who now has a 14 point lead over former holder Christine Majerus (Team SDWorx).

Le Col – Wahoo rider Maike van der Duin extended her lead in the Pillar Sprints classification thanks to taking a point at the opening contest at Chirk, and with a lead of seven points will hold the jersey going into the final stage regardless of points garnered in stage five.

Highlights of the fourth stage of the Women’s Tour will be on ITV4 at 8pm on Thursday 9 June and available on demand via the ITV Hub.

The Women’s Tour continues in Wales on Friday with the queen stage of the 2022 event and the race’s toughest ever summit finish. The 106.4-kilometre (66.3-mile) penultimate stage takes the race from sea level at Pembrey Country Park to the summit of the Black Mountain in the Brecon Beacons National Park, a 7.2-kilometre climb averaging 5.3% and ramping up to 21% in places.

Stage five is expected to finish at the summit of the Black Mountain at approximately 2pm, with live coverage on Eurosport Player and the GCN+ app from 11.30am.