Brodie Chapman crowned the new Australian National Champion in Ballarat.
After just one race in her new Trek-Segafredo team colors, Brodie Chapman will be swapping white and blue for green and gold after a strong move on the last lap of Mount Buninyong saw her riding solo to victory at the Australian National Road Race Championships.
The Trek-Segafredo trio of Chapman, Amanda Spratt and Lauretta Hanson proved a force to be reckoned with over the course of the nine laps and their team performance was nothing short of perfection.
That Winning Feeling!
Hugs and kisses for the new Australian road race champion, @Brodie_Mai!! 🤩#RoadNats23 pic.twitter.com/0QB12hkxR8
— AusCycling (@AusCyclingAus) January 8, 2023
"I can't wait to wear the Australian colors" - Brodie Chapman
Luckily it won’t be too long a wait before we see Chapman in action as Australian champion. She will be heading to next week’s Tour Down Under, where her new kit is already waiting for her…
There’s something special already waiting for @Brodie_Mai at #TourDownUnder 💛💚
See you soon champ 🇦🇺 pic.twitter.com/c1AxjlJYWf
— Trek-Segafredo (@TrekSegafredo) January 8, 2023
Reaction from Brodie Chapman
“This feeling is definitely as good as I expected it would be. This race means so much and our team of three just played it perfectly. For out first race together, we couldn’t be more stoked and I am also just so stoked to be able to come back here and to now be national champion! [cheering].
“It was only in the last 500 meters that I knew I had the race won. I didn’t look back so often because it’s not over until you cross that finish line, anything can happen. When I was coming into the final, I was being pushed all the way and so there was a big feeling of relief on the line as well knowing that I had done it.
“It means so much to start the season like this. I have missed coming back to Australia for the last couple of seasons and I really wanted to show that I had a performance like this in me with my new team. I have really been working on my long efforts as my strength and I used that today.
“We wanted it to be hard with four laps to go. We knew we needed a hard race and on the last lap I decided to make it really hard, thinking it would either benefit me or my teammates but I knew that was our strength. I had no worries while I was out in front because I knew Spratty was behind me and Lauretta had been up the road all day forcing the chase, so it was just perfect.
