WomensCycling.net - race coverage, Race 4

Amanda Spratt (GreenEDGE-AIS) claimed another important victory for the new team on the fast Williamstown course. In the battle for second and overall honours, Melissa Hoskins (GreenEDGE) proved to be the stronger sprinter. She beat Chloe Hosking (Total Rush) and Rochelle Gilmore (BikeExchange) to the line and in doing so secured her first overall victory in the 2012 Jayco Bay Series.

In the sprint completion, Shara Gillow (GreenEDGE) was in the strange position of having to defend a sprint jersey ahead of Chloe Hosking. Hosking needed to win both intermediate sprints to take the jersey but did not manage to take any.

The new GreenEDGE team dominated the final race in Williamstown. They rode a tactical race and not only protected the overnight lead in the sprint and overall jerseys, but secured the stage win and the team competition. Hoskins was only one point ahead of Hosking overnight on GC and Gillow was 5 points ahead of Hosking in the sprint.

The pace was frantic right from the start. GreenEDGE set a blistering pace for 11 minutes. This disposed of nearly half of the bunch who, were pulled out by the commissaries. Despite efforts from Sinead Noonan (Jayco-AIS), Loren Rowney (Total Rush) and Sue Forsyth (Pitcher Partners) to break up the GreenEDGE control, they could not manage it.

Amanda Spratt one of the more experienced of the Australian riders, looked strong all day. She was at the front of the race and covering all the moves until the opportunity to attack after the second sprint appeared and she never looked back. Spratt gradually increased her lead to 13 seconds. Helped in some part, by the control from her team mates in the main bunch. Nicole Cooke (BikeExchange) tried to bring the gap down before suffering a mechanical that could not be fixed, forcing her to pull out of the race.

With two laps to go the gap was still 11 seconds. As Spratt reached 75m to go the sprint for second was just starting on the final bend. Spratt crossed the line 3 seconds ahead of Hoskins and Hosking.

Melissa Hoskins (GreenEDGE) credited her teammates for their involvement in her defence of the yellow jersey she claimed yesterday. "(Loren) Rowney has got a lot of experience but I had a lot of trust in the girls, I knew my team would look after me and they did really well," Hoskins said.

"I just had to back myself again, the girls did everything out there to keep me there so it was up to me to not let them down and coming around that last corner, that's the fastest I think I've ever taken a corner in my life." added a smiling Hoskins.

Amanda Spratt (GreenEDGE) Spratt who expects big things to come for her GreenEDGE-AIS team in 2012, could not have been happier with her stage win. "Just after that last intermediate sprint I just saw the perfect moment to attack so I went and no one came with me and once I had the gap it was just a matter of making sure I stayed out there," Spratt said.

"I was still a little bit worried that the gap might come down so I didn't really get a chance to celebrate until I got into that last straight there and then I could relax a little bit,"she added.

Reflecting on the fact that they were a new professional team did they feel pressured to win, Spratt said, "I guess there was pressure on us but we were more than willing to take up that challenge. We've been working so well together all week and it's such an exciting team to be part of and it's all coming together even quicker than we thought it would so it's looking to be a really exciting year ahead."

Shara Gillow (GreenEDGE) was a little surprised to win the sprinters jersey but very happy, "It was a bit of a joke round the dinner table. Marv [Martin Barras] my coach though I was pulling his leg the first day I put on the jersey. It just shows another side to me," said Gillow with a smile.

Gerry Ryan (Jayco and GreenEDGE) could not have been happier with the results from the women this week. "It is great to see the women's team come out and show what they are capable of and what we can see more of this year. I have been really impressed with how they have performed this week," said Ryan.

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Results - Top 10 - click here to see full result

Position	Name	Team	Time/Gap
1	Amanda SPRATT	GreenEdge-AIS	44:50:00
2	Melissa HOSKINS	GreenEdge-AIS	3
3	Chloe HOSKING	Total Rush/Hyster	3
4	Rochelle GILMORE	BikeExchange.com.au Dream Team	3
5	Annette EDMONDSON	Pitcher Partners	3
6	Rebecca HENDERSON	Suzuki-Trek Women	3
7	Jessie MACLEAN	GreenEdge-AIS	7
8	Kate FINEGAN	Spencers Race	7
9	Loren ROWNEY	Total Rush/Hyster	7
10	Sue FORSYTH	Pitcher Partners	7

Sprints

Intermediate Sprints
1	Jessie MACLEAN	GreenEdge-AIS	3
2	Tiffany CROMWELL	GreenEdge-AIS	2
3	Melissa HOSKINS	GreenEdge-AIS	1
Intermediate Sprint 1
1	Annette EDMONDSON	Pitcher Partners	3
2	Gracie ELVIN	Jayco - AIS	2
3	Peta MULLENS	BikeExchange.com.au Dream Team	1

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General Classification Top 10 - click here to see full GC

Position	Name	Team	Points
1	Melissa HOSKINS	GreenEdge-AIS	32
2	Amanda SPRATT	GreenEdge-AIS	29
3	Chloe HOSKING	Total Rush/Hyster	29
4	Rochelle GILMORE	BikeExchange.com.au Dream Team	21
5	Jessie MACLEAN	GreenEdge-AIS	16
6	Annette EDMONDSON	Pitcher Partners	15
7	Tiffany CROMWELL	GreenEdge-AIS	15
8	Loren ROWNEY	Total Rush/Hyster	14
9	Shara GILLOW	GreenEdge-AIS	12
10	Grace SULZBERGER	Jayco - AIS	10

Sprint Top 10 - click here to see full GC

Position	Name	Team	Points
1	Shara GILLOW	GreenEdge-AIS	10
2	Jessie MACLEAN	GreenEdge-AIS	6
3	Chloe HOSKING	Total Rush/Hyster	5
4	Tiffany CROMWELL	GreenEdge-AIS	4
5	Peta MULLENS	BikeExchange.com.au Dream Team	4
6	Annette EDMONDSON	Pitcher Partners	3
7	Kirsty BROUN	BikeExchange.com.au Dream Team	3
8	Amanda SPRATT	GreenEdge-AIS	2
9	Loren ROWNEY	Total Rush/Hyster	2
10	Rowena FRY	Jayco - AIS	2

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