Latest news with #TourOfBritain
RNZ News
a day ago
- Sport
- RNZ News
Cycling: Kiwi Ally Wollaston wins Tour of Britain
Ally Wollaston. Photo: FDJ-Suez New Zealand cyclist Ally Wollaston has won the Tour of Britain. Wollaston went into the fourth and final stage three seconds behind British rider Cat Ferguson but picked up time bonuses in the three intermediate sprints in Glasgow before gaining another four bonus seconds by finishing third on the stage. Wollaston, who rides for FDJ-Suez, beat Movistar's Ferguson by four seconds overall. "I'm a little bit overwhelmed, sorry. I'm so happy, first of all, a massive thank you to my team-mates, I couldn't have done it without them," Wollaston said. "This means the world to me, it's my first World Tour victory in GC (general classification)." Wollaston, 24, is two-time world champion on the track and last year won a silver and bronze medal at the Paris Olympics. She won a World Tour one-day race in Australia in February. "I knew I needed to get every second I could in the bonus sprints, and unfortunately, Cat was right on my wheel every time! "So it came down to the last sprint, and there was a moment of doubt halfway through that last lap where I thought 'I just cannot do this today', and my team-mates really helped me pull it together and pulled me to the front for the final." The final stage was held on an 8.4km city-centre circuit in Glasgow.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Ally Wollaston pips British teenager Cat Ferguson to Tour of Britain title
The teenage prodigy Cat Ferguson came within a hair's breadth of executing a memorable overall win in her debut Tour of Britain, but was outsprinted by her rival Ally Wollaston at the climax of the final stage in Glasgow. The pair came into the final sprint tied on time, after Wollaston had erased the 19-year-old Ferguson's overall lead. Bonus seconds for third place in the final sprint, behind the stage winner, Lorena Wiebes, was enough for the New Zealander to snatch the overall win. Advertisement Related: 'They named a sandwich after me': Luke Rowe on life in the peloton, cobbles and Welsh riders 'I was lucky that there were a lot of seconds up for grabs,' Wollaston, riding for FDJ-Suez, said. Wiebes, SD Worx-Protime teammate to the absent defending champion, Lotte Kopecky, rescued her team's race with a peerless stage win. 'We've had some bad luck this week with crashes and lost GC hopes because of it,' Wiebes said, 'but wrapping up the week with a stage win feels great.' Yet it was Wollaston's day and her turns of speed in the intermediate sprints chiselled relentlessly away at Ferguson's narrow lead until only a single second separated the pair in the overall standings. Advertisement After beating Ferguson yet again, in the third sprint, Wollaston asserted herself in the final dash to the line to take the biggest win of her career. 'The plan was to get as many seconds as I could, and unfortunately Cat was on my wheel for every single one, so it really came down to the last sprint,' she said. 'There was definitely a moment where I thought, 'I just cannot do this today.' My teammates really helped me, and pulled me to the front for the final.' The Aucklander's success came at Ferguson's expense and the teenager from Skipton crossed the finish line in tears as she realised she had lost the overall lead. 'I would have loved to have won. I am gutted, but she was the strongest today,' Ferguson, of the Movistar team, said. 'If you had told me at the beginning of the week that I'd be second, I would have been over the moon, so I can't be too disappointed.' Advertisement Victory began to slip from Ferguson's grasp in the series of intermediate sprints centred on Glasgow Green, in which she and her Movistar team were consistently overpowered by Wollaston and her FDJ-Suez team. A mid-race puncture also forced an unwelcome bike change and left Ferguson chasing the peloton on the fast circuit. 'It was eventful for sure,' Ferguson, who also won the points and best young rider classifications, said. 'There was always something going on during the intermediate sprints. I had a puncture, but I didn't want to change the bike, because I felt OK, [but] then it was slowly going down.' Try as she might, the teenager was unable to prevent Wollaston's track racing experience from eroding the hard-fought gains made in Saturday's stage, through the rainswept hills west of Kelso. In the final crucial sprint, Wollaston's team put her in a better position on the last bend. 'I got a bit chopped up on some corners and really that was it,' Ferguson said. 'Ally went away and I knew that was it.' Advertisement But Ferguson, winner of the junior world road race and time trial titles last season, can take heart from a consistently strong performance throughout the four day race. The race's most dramatic moments came in the hills around Kelso in Saturday's attritional and rainswept 143.8-kilometre third stage. As others suffered, Ferguson flourished. The stage, marked by two major crashes, proved catastrophic for the overnight race leader, Kristen Faulkner, who suffered a series of mishaps and finished more than three minutes behind Ferguson. The 19-year-old, who had said 'I love it when it rains' following a win earlier this season, was true to her word on Saturday, showing true grit and bike handling skills, particularly on the greasy Kelso cobbles at the finish. Ferguson described the torrid conditions around Kelso as 'really horrible,' but said 'the rain brings out the racer in me and gives me more adrenaline'. Advertisement Meanwhile, as Ferguson pondered what might have been, a tearful Lizzie Deignan rolled to a halt in Glasgow, after completing her final day of racing on British roads. Describing her feelings as 'very close to the surface', Deignan, who retires at the end of this season, said her final day racing in Britain was 'emotional.' The 36 old described the Glasgow stage as 'fast and technical and scary, but really fun as well'. 'The crowd were amazing and the team committed 100%,' she said. 'We were against all odds today, but we didn't give up.'
The Guardian
2 days ago
- Sport
- The Guardian
Ally Wollaston pips British teenager Cat Ferguson to Tour of Britain title
The teenage prodigy Cat Ferguson came within a hair's breadth of executing a memorable overall win in her debut Tour of Britain, but was outsprinted by her rival Ally Wollaston at the climax of the final stage in Glasgow. The pair came into the final sprint tied on time, after Wollaston had erased the 19-year-old Ferguson's overall lead. Bonus seconds for third place in the final sprint, behind the stage winner, Lorena Wiebes, was enough for the New Zealander to snatch the overall win. 'I was lucky that there were a lot of seconds up for grabs,' Wollaston, riding for FDJ-Suez, said. Wiebes, SD Worx-Protime teammate to the absent defending champion, Lotte Kopecky, rescued her team's race with a peerless stage win. 'We've had some bad luck this week with crashes and lost GC hopes because of it,' Wiebes said, 'but wrapping up the week with a stage win feels great.' Yet it was Wollaston's day and her turns of speed in the intermediate sprints chiselled relentlessly away at Ferguson's narrow lead until only a single second separated the pair in the overall standings. After beating Ferguson yet again, in the third sprint, Wollaston asserted herself in the final dash to the line to take the biggest win of her career. 'The plan was to get as many seconds as I could, and unfortunately Cat was on my wheel for every single one, so it really came down to the last sprint,' she said. 'There was definitely a moment where I thought, 'I just cannot do this today.' My teammates really helped me, and pulled me to the front for the final.' The Aucklander's success came at Ferguson's expense and the teenager from Skipton crossed the finish line in tears as she realised she had lost the overall lead. 'I would have loved to have won. I am gutted, but she was the strongest today,' Ferguson, of the Movistar team, said. 'If you had told me at the beginning of the week that I'd be second, I would have been over the moon, so I can't be too disappointed.' Victory began to slip from Ferguson's grasp in the series of intermediate sprints centred on Glasgow Green, in which she and her Movistar team were consistently overpowered by Wollaston and her FDJ-Suez team. A mid-race puncture also forced an unwelcome bike change and left Ferguson chasing the peloton on the fast circuit. 'It was eventful for sure,' Ferguson, who also won the points and best young rider classifications, said. 'There was always something going on during the intermediate sprints. I had a puncture, but I didn't want to change the bike, because I felt OK, [but] then it was slowly going down.' Try as she might, the teenager was unable to prevent Wollaston's track racing experience from eroding the hard-fought gains made in Saturday's stage, through the rainswept hills west of Kelso. In the final crucial sprint, Wollaston's team put her in a better position on the last bend. 'I got a bit chopped up on some corners and really that was it,' Ferguson said. 'Ally went away and I knew that was it.' Sign up to The Recap The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend's action after newsletter promotion But Ferguson, winner of the junior world road race and time trial titles last season, can take heart from a consistently strong performance throughout the four day race. The race's most dramatic moments came in the hills around Kelso in Saturday's attritional and rainswept 143.8-kilometre third stage. As others suffered, Ferguson flourished. The stage, marked by two major crashes, proved catastrophic for the overnight race leader, Kristen Faulkner, who suffered a series of mishaps and finished more than three minutes behind Ferguson. The 19-year-old, who had said 'I love it when it rains' following a win earlier this season, was true to her word on Saturday, showing true grit and bike handling skills, particularly on the greasy Kelso cobbles at the finish. Ferguson described the torrid conditions around Kelso as 'really horrible,' but said 'the rain brings out the racer in me and gives me more adrenaline'. Meanwhile, as Ferguson pondered what might have been, a tearful Lizzie Deignan rolled to a halt in Glasgow, after completing her final day of racing on British roads. Describing her feelings as 'very close to the surface', Deignan, who retires at the end of this season, said her final day racing in Britain was 'emotional.' The 36 old described the Glasgow stage as 'fast and technical and scary, but really fun as well'. 'The crowd were amazing and the team committed 100%,' she said. 'We were against all odds today, but we didn't give up.'
BBC News
2 days ago
- Sport
- BBC News
Wollaston denies GB's Ferguson to win Tour of Britain
Ally Wollaston overturned a three-second deficit to win the Tour of Britain Women and deny British teenager Cat Ferguson New Zealander won all three intermediate sprints on the final stage in Glasgow to draw level with 19-year-old Ferguson, before gaining another four bonus seconds by finishing third behind stage winner Lorena Wiebes and Charlotte of FDJ-Suez, beat Movistar's Ferguson by four seconds overall, with UAE Team ADQ's Dutchwoman Karlijn Swinkels finishing third."I'm a little bit overwhelmed - sorry. I'm so happy, first of all. A massive 'thank you' to my team-mates, I couldn't have done it without them. This means the world to me - it's my first World Tour victory in GC [general classification]," said Wollaston."I knew I needed to get every second I could in the bonus sprints, and unfortunately Cat was right in my wheel every time. "So it came down to the last sprint, and there was a moment of doubt halfway through that last lap where I thought 'I just cannot do this today'. My team-mates really helped me pull it together and pulled me to the front for the final."Ferguson looked like claiming the first of three time bonuses for the intermediate sprints at the end of the fourth lap of the 8.4km city-centre circuit, but Wollaston squeezed past her with just metres then beat the Briton in the second intermediate sprint to trail the overall leader's green jersey by one 24-year-old moved into the lead with victory on the third intermediate sprint to set up a thrilling finale. European champion Wiebes launched her attack at the 300m mark before powering over the line first, followed by Kool and Wollaston, who took the last bonus seconds to win the overall FDJ-Suez also won the team classification, while Ferguson, who finished the fourth stage in seventh, claimed the red points jersey. Stage four results Lorena Wiebes (Ned/Team SD Worx–Protime) 1hr 57mins 13secsCharlotte Kool (Ned/Team Picnic-PostNL) Same timeAlly Wollaston (NZ/FDJ-Suez) Same timeChiara Consonni (Ita/Canyon Sram-Zondacrypto) Same timeBabette van der Wolf (Ned/EF Education - Oatly) Same timeAnna Henderson (GB/Lidl-Trek) Same timeCat Ferguson (GB/Movistar Team) Same timeCelia Gery (Fra/FDJ-Suez) Same timeLinda Zanetti (Sui/Uno-X Mobility) Same timeNienke Veenhoven (Ned/Visma-Lease a Bike) General classification after stage four Ally Wollaston (NZ/FDJ-Suez) 10hrs 36mins 45secsCat Ferguson (GB/Movistar Team) +04secsKarlijn Swinkels (Ned/UAE-Team ADQ) +22secsRiejanne Markus (Ned/Lidl-Trek) +50secsSarah van Dam (Can/Ceratizit) +1min 01secCecilie Uttrup-Ludwig (Den/Canyon Sram-Zondacrypto) +1min 02secsMegan Jastrab (USA/Team Picnic-PostNL) Same timeAnna Henderson (GB/Lidl-Trek) +1min 06secsQuinty Ton (Ned/Liv AlUla-Jayco) Same timeMillie Couzens (GB) +1min 09secs
BBC News
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Seeing is believing: How Deignan made women's cycling cool
To have the Lloyd's Tour of Britain Women back on the road after some troubled times is a blessing for women's two 19-year-old British riders competing in the event and making a significant impact on road cycling globally are explaining who inspired them to take up the a luxury hotel on the outskirts of Darlington, Imogen Wolff looks across at two-time Tour of Britain winner Lizzie Deignan, a little uncomfortably, to tell her that the speech she delivered following her momentous 2021 Paris-Roubaix win is the reason she is at a bike race at all. Alongside her is housemate Cat Ferguson – who leads the Tour of Britain after victory on the third stage and is the current junior road race world champion and rider for the World Tour Movistar team."You're gonna think I'm just saying it because she's sat next to me but it was genuinely Lizzie's speech after Roubaix," says Wolff, who competes for the Visma Lease a Bike team."There was like a tagline, 'the women have a space now and we're here to stay,' and it stuck with me."I was riding a bike but it didn't seem very cool, just loads of old blokes doing it. Then after Roubaix I thought 'this is the coolest thing ever.' I remember everything about the race… [you] sliding out on that corner; blood on the bar tape. It's still a running joke with my team-mates when we're reconning Roubaix, with me telling them 'this is the moment I fell in love with cycling'."Ferguson's first cycling memory recalls perhaps the other most significant moment in 36-year-old Deignan's career."It was the first [Olympic] medal, at the time I was six," says Ferguson. "That was my first memory of a big sporting event and I've always loved cycling and the Olympics since. I was watching it on telly on holiday.""Well, this is great for my ego!" retorts the soon-to-retire Deignan. "I didn't realise I made cycling cool."There's so many moments in my career girls wouldn't have been able to watch," she adds. "It's difficult to inspire people if they can't even get to see you. The [silver medal at the] Olympics was one of my first performances people could see [live] [as was] Roubaix."Most people talk to me now about winning Roubaix - it's famous for being tough and relentless. I was sliding all over place, but proved I was able to handle the bike, which blew out any underestimation of us." Perceptions and pressure Just as when she delivered that podium speech in Roubaix, of which she says "there was pressure on that interview", Deignan chooses her words carefully but effectively "underestimation" she refers to is any suggestion by others that women's sport somehow lacks the same punch or power as men' posts on social media have also had an impact all three agree - and that the impact has been largely positive."Social media's had a huge influence on women's sport," says Deignan, who has won many of the sport's biggest races, including the one-day Tour de France and Liege Bastogne Liege classic."If there's any inequality it's called out very quickly, and we are able to present ourselves to sponsors off our own backs; people can become their own brand in sport."It has its down side – [Cat and Imogen] are under more pressure than ever. People know everything you're doing and know how you're performing. But it is worth it as long as you learn how to manage expectation and pressure."Ferguson adds that "it doesn't feel like pressure yet"."It's all so new and exciting," she says. "Maybe we'll feel it more as we get older."But the pressure comes from all areas, including sometimes the top as she recalls an issue with world cycling's governing body."In my post-race interview in the London 2012 Olympics, I was asked to shake the hand of the UCI president [at the time Pat McQuaid] and I was a little bit annoyed. He was doing nothing for the female side of the sport and was getting away with it."I took that opportunity to speak up in the press conference. [As] the first medallist for GB, suddenly you become the headlines – it was quite daunting."I'm still happy I did it. It's the way I'd been brought up. It didn't seem like a big deal to me to shout about the inequality I was facing."But I realise now it's not as easy for everyone to do that, confrontation isn't comfortable for everybody.""The work Lizzie has done in the sport enabled me and Imogen to have careers," concurs Ferguson. "Ultimately to get paid when we are 18, [when] I don't think it was possible for Lizzie to do that when she was 18."There's also so much more legislation in cycling, such as maternity pay and it's down to Lizzie." Switching off There's little doubt Deignan lived and breathed the bike, coaching herself and using and an "evidence-based" approach to ensure she never left a stone one of the most important factors of preparation appears to have little to do with being an athlete."I hear [Lizzie] speak a lot about being a person off the bike, like not being a cyclist," says Wolff. "I don't think a lot of people speak about it - people think to be really pro you have to sleep, eat, train… repeat, so it's nice to know that different personalities have a different way of working that can be successful, and you don't have to be this one mould.""I tried knitting, once," she adds, rolling her eyes. "I was so bored.""I've got loads of interests," adds Wolff. "Guitar, baking sourdough, learning Dutch [to help communicate with her team-mates]. "But I'm not very good at [sticking with] hobbies when I'm not very good at them, so I don't find the first bit very… interesting.""I'm still trying to find a hobby," adds Ferguson, who reminds the room that like Wolff she has only just finished school, and that newly acquired free time is yet to be filled. Seeing is believing "[Lizzie's] not just a rider, she's a really lovely, interesting, intelligent person," adds Ferguson. "You can tell through watching her race she's made women's cycling more than a sport and made people want to race."Everybody needs an inspiration to achieve. Deignan may have been first on the scene for Wolff and Ferguson but many in the sport act as inspiration before her, including Beryl Burton and Nicole Cooke."A Little bit like [Wolff] I always thought cycling was, not boring… but an old bloke's sport," says Deignan. "[Then] seeing Victoria Pendleton, she was entertainment and she was this glamorous, impressive powerful woman, and as a teenage girl I thought 'oh wow this could be a good sport and I could fit in."You can't be what you can't see, and she was somebody I identified with."I just hope going forwards you demand quality at every turn," concludes Deignan to Wolff and Ferguson. "You have it now, but keep pushing for it. You're both incredibly talented and hard-working."You deserve it."
