The renowned Willunga Hill set the stage for a spectacular showdown in the Tour Down Under, and Neve Bradbury delivered an admirable performance, finishing fourth after a fascinating and thrilling race to the top.

Hyped as one of the major contenders following a stellar breakout season in 2024, which began with a third-place finish in the Tour Down Under general classification, Neve entered the stage with newfound attention and high expectations.

True to her mature and composed nature, she approached the race with a cool head, eager to see how her legs were coming along and excited to have a positive outing with teammates.

Heading towards the township of Willunga at kilometre 88, flurries of attacks and skirmishes disrupted the otherwise controlled peloton, with Maike van der Duin momentarily finding herself in a break of 12. Ultimately though, all eyes were set on the famed hill that lay ahead.

The plan for CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto was to simply take a backseat on the first ascent of Willunga to maximise the number of riders at the front of the race, allowing the freedom to respond to moves more effectively and play the tactical game when it mattered most.

As the group crested the first climb, Alice Towers, Chloé Dygert, and Neve remained in the reduced peloton, but numbers swelled again as riders rejoined between the two ascents.

Alice, co-captain on the road, was involved in a short-lived 12-rider move that initially seemed dangerous but lacked cohesion. Chloé then launched a counterattack to keep the pace high as they approached Willunga once again, impressively displaying her perpetual power on yet another day.

Then, it was time for Neve to do her thing up to the Willunga Hill summit finish. She takes us through how the dying kilometres of the race unfolded for her:

“Niamh Fisher-Black (Lidl-Trek) was setting a really strong tempo. It wasn’t really tempo because she would just attack then ease off, then attack again. Every time I had to follow her, I was already at my limit, so I decided that the best option for me was to conserve energy for the decisive moment.

“I was quite confident about the final sprint, which is rare for me since I’m usually not very good at sprinting, but it’s quite a tricky finish, and I feel like I know the finish quite well from last year. So I was confident that I could out-sprint her.”

“I had a DS in my ear, saying I was the strongest and should go for it, so I did. But as soon as I launched, I realised it might not have been the best move. I got countered immediately, and that was that.”

After Neve’s decisive bid for victory was matched by the three other riders at the front, two of them quickly made moves of their own, distancing Neve who ultimately finished 26 seconds down in fourth place.

“I’m happy with where my form is at for January, I haven’t done that much intensive training yet, so it’s always reassuring to know that I can still ride a bike pretty fast. That said, I’m a bit frustrated that I couldn’t do just a little bit better.”

Alice Towers was also given the chance to test her legs on Willunga and was largely satisfied with her performance, finishing 11th – just shy of her goal to crack the top 10.

HOW TO FOLLOW

The Tour Down Under is broadcast on 7Plus, Eurosport, NBC Sports and FloBikes, with daily coverage available from 11:00 ACDT (01:30 CEST or 16:30 PST). You can also follow the race on X using #TourDownUnder, as well as through the CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto social channels.

Stage 3 | 105.9km | Sunday 19 January | Stirling – Stirling | Start 11:10 ACDT.

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