Australia’s domination of the 2017 Oceania Road Championships continued with Lisen Hockings, Jessica Pratt and Madeleine Fasnacht claiming the women’s road race titles, in Canberra, Friday March 10.

A day after winning bronze in the time trial Lisen Hockings (Australia) was untouchable in the elite women’s road. Hockings used her strength against the clock to hold off a five rider chasing group on the final lap to cross the line solo in 3 hours and 34 minutes, more than three minutes ahead of the closest rivals.

“I’m really happy to be back on my bike and racing with the Holden Women’s Cycling Team and obviously delighted to take the win,” said Hockings who claimed the overall victory in the Australian National Road Series in 2016.

“I missed the whole summer of racing due to injury so I’m delighted to be back on the road and enjoying myself.

“We had a lot of numbers in the race today and the team was defending the jersey after Shannon’s win last year so to be able to go 1-2 for the team is a great result.

“It was very definitely a team effort out there: Louisa [Lobigs], Jaime [Gunning] and Dani [McKinnirey] followed every move or were off the front themselves,” Hockings added paying full credit to her team on setting up her victory.

“Riding for the team with the confidence that they had it covered when you got caught was very motivating. I was just lucky that it was pretty hot, hilly and windy so I managed to stay away until the end.”

Defending champion Shannon Malseed (Australia) out sprinted time trial champion Lucy Kennedy (Australia) for the silver medal, with Kennedy settling for bronze.

The under 23 women’s title went to Jessica Pratt (Australia), having finished just off the elite podium in fourth. Pratt who claimed silver in 2014 and bronze in 2015 in the under 19 race was in contention for the medals in the elite category until the closing kilometres. New Zealand duo Mikayla Harvey and Madeleine Park completed the podium finishing in the main peloton.

In the under 19 women’s race Australia’s Madeleine Fasnacht produced a dominant display in the 80-kilometre race, crossing the line more than three minutes clear of the rest of the field to claim the title. It continued a strong two days Fasnacht, who finished sixth last year, having claimed bronze in the time trial on Thursday. It was another all Australian podium with Sarah Gigante winning the sprint for silver with Emily Mascaro completing the podium.

Competition concludes Saturday with the under 19, under 23 and elite men’s races. The under 19 field tackles a 120km course starting at 9AM. With the combined under 23 elite and elite race from 1:00PM covering 154 kilometres.

2017 Oceania Women’s Road Race Medallists

Elite Women
Gold – Lisen HOCKINGS (AUS)
Silver – Shannon MALSEED (AUS)
Bronze – Lucy KENNEDY (AUS)

Under 23 Women
Gold – Jessica PRATT (AUS)
Silver – Mikayla HARVEY (NZL)
Bronze – Madeleine PARK (NZL)

Under 19 Women
Gold – Madeleine FASNACHT (AUS)
Silver – Sarah GIGANTE (AUS)
Bronze – Emily MASCARO (AUS)