GRACE BROWN wins! After a pair of 2nd places the Aussie finally gets her win at Liege Bastogne Liege! That ending was great fun from the Roche-aux-Faucons climb! So many rolls of the dice and tactics #LBLwomen #LBL
On an enthralling day of racing, Grace Brown has taken victory at Liege-Bastogne-Liege Femmes 2024 with a sprint from a reduced bunch ahead of Elisa Longo Borghini and Demi Vollering.
After Sarah Gigante attacked clear solo relatively early on, the Australian spent a long while on her own before being joined by a counter-attack. With 30km to go though La Redoute had switched things up again and it was Gigante's compatriot, Grace Brown who was at the front with Kim Cadzow and Elise Chabbey.
That leading trio still had over a minute on their nearest chasers heading into the final 20km, making it not wholly unrealistic that they could hold on for the victory. On the final categorised climb of the day though, the podium at La Fleche Wallonne in midweek, Katarzyna Niewiadoma, Demi Vollering and Elisa Longo Borghini attacked clear of the peloton in chase of the leaders.
Inside the final 9km, the superstar trio joined the leaders. Behind, Marianne Vos was the main name to have missed out and as such, her Team Visma | Lease a Bike were leading the chase. With Vollering and Niewiadoma loitering at the back of the group, Longo Borghini sensed an opportunity and attacked at the front.
Although the Italian momentarily put her rivals into difficulty, the group of six were still altogether into the finale. Through the flamme rouge, Niewiadoma went on the attack early but despite having a narrow lead, Longo Borghini came around in the final few hundred metres but in a thrilling finale, Grace Brown powered around to take victory.
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