Lucinda Stewart stuns the favourites to win Elite Women's Road Race National Championship in Perth

Twenty-year-old youngster Lucinda Stewart (Liv AlUla Jayco Women's Continental Team) has upset the favourites, winning the Elite Women's Road Race at the 2025 AusCycling Road National Championships in Perth, Western Australia.

Stewart launched her sprint on Fraser Avenue and comfortably came around fellow breakaway ally Ella Simpson (St Michel - Preference Home - Auber93) to become the Australian elite and under-23 women's national road race champion.

The Melburnian from Carnegie Caulfield Cycling Club becomes the first rider since Sarah Gigante in 2019 to win both Australian titles in the same race.

"I still can't believe it honestly. I'm just so happy and stoked and pleasantly surprised that I was able to pull it off," Stewart said.

"I know how hard the girls have worked for this and as an Australian team it's really special to be able to take the jersey back to Europe.

"Those last three laps, I talked to Jess (Allen) in the car and she was like 'mate, we believe in you so much' and I was so nervous because I knew I could pull it off and I just had to wait it out and play it smart.

"I knew how strong the other girls were, especially Ella because we were teammates last year."

Stewart was part of a five-rider breakaway that sprinted for victory in Kings Park after holding the peloton at arm's length for much of the 109-kilometre race. The combined elite and under-23 women's road race was held over eight laps of a picturesque circuit around Kings Park and the Perth CBD.

On the second lap, five riders broke away: Stewart, Simpson, Katelyn Nicholson (Butterfields Ziptrak Racing) and Western Australians Cassia Boglio (Swan Drafting CC) and Sophia Sammons (Praties Cycling Team) went up the road in what looked like a formulaic breakaway of developing and domestic riders. They were briefly joined by Lauren Thomas (McLardy McShane Insurance Advisors - Bomad Cycling), who couldn't hold the pace.

The quintet opened a significant gap to the peloton, reaching a maximum of six minutes with 60km to go, before the favourites behind began to make accelerations.

Big names including Brodie Chapman (UAE Team ADQ), Amber Pate (Liv AlUla Jayco), Amanda Spratt (Lidl-Trek), Anya Louw and Alex Manly (both AG Insurance - Soudal Cycling Team) were active over the next phase, but the stop-and-start attacks only reduced the gap to five minutes with 40km to go, and the race looked to be slipping out of their grasp.

Pate and Spratt finally escaped from the peloton with 38km remaining. But, at the bell, when the attackers still had three minutes over Pate and Spratt, it was clear there would be a surprise winner from the early break.

The group of five arrived together at the base of the final climb up Malcolm Street, the steep hill that peaks 400 metres before the finish in Kings Park.

Simpson drove the pace up the climb and only Stewart, who had spent most of the race sitting at the back of the break, could follow, opening  a small gap to their rivals.

Hometown favourite Boglio hung tough to finish with a deserved bronze medal, while Sammons and Alyssa Polites (Meridian Blue Cycling p/b 99 Bikes) completed the U23 podium in that order.

"It's not my usual style of race but my role today was all in for the breakaway knowing we had so many strong options back in the bunch and it just so happened that the break stuck out to the end," Stewart said when asked about the pre-race plan.

"They (the team) had faith in me and competence in me and I think it was more sort of me doubting myself, but it was good to get that positive reinforcement from the car and the roadside and they had every bit of faith in me and I'm just really proud to be able to pull it off for them.

"I've only really been in this team for one week and it already feels like home to me and the culture in the team is something really, really special and I'm so proud to be a part of it. I've looked up to the girls in this team since I was really little so it feels pretty cool to be a part of it."

Results

Elite Women

1. Lucinda Stewart* (Liv AlUla Jayco Women's Continental Team) 2h46:59
2. Ella Simpson (St Michel - Preference Home - Auber93) +0
3. Cassia Boglio (Swan Drafting CC) +0
4. Katelyn Nicholson (Butterfields Ziptrak Racing) +0
5. Sophia Sammons* (Praties Cycling Team) +32
6. Amber Pate (Liv AlUla Jayco) +2:06
7. Amanda Spratt (Lidl-Trek) +2:08
8. Sarah Roy (EF-Education-Oatly) +4:55
9. Odette Lynch (Butterfields Ziptrak Racing) +4:55
10. Alyssa Polites* (Meridian Blue Cycling p/b 99 Bikes) +4:55

U23 Women

1. Lucinda Stewart (Liv AlUla Jayco Women's Continental Team) 2h46:59
2. Sophia Sammons (Praties Cycling Team) +32
3. Alyssa Polites (Meridian Blue Cycling p/b 99 Bikes) +4:55
4. Sophie Marr (Praties Cycling Team) +4:55
5. Alli Anderson (Port Adelaide CC/SASI) +4:55
6. Talia Appleton (Praties Cycling Team) +5:03
7. Lauren Bates (Canberra CC/ACTAS) +5:03
8. Mia Williams (Meridian Blue Cycling p/b 99 Bikes) +5:12
9. Mackenzie Coupland (Liv AlUla Jayco Women's Continental Team) +5:12
10. Zoe Davison (Swan Drafting CC) +5:12

Pedal Mafia Queen of the Mountains Jersey

• Katelyn Nicholson (Butterfields Ziptrak Racing)

Western Australia Most Combative Jersey

• Ella Simpson (St Michel - Preference Home - Auber93)

Feature picture: Chris Auld/AusCycling