Maeve Plouffe won her first Rochard Energie Warrnambool Women's Cycling Classic on Sunday, and her powerful sprint did not falter in the 160km race as she snatched victory from a six-man breakaway group.

"It was a bit of a dream escape. There were four or five of the strongest riders in the entire peloton in that breakaway, and they all had different strengths. Everyone had a shot at the finale."

The long race from Melbourne to Warrnambool, the first solo women's edition of the race, featured an attack battle, but when it became clear that the race would be decided by a sprint, all eyes were on National Road Series (NRS) leader Plouffe, who was the first woman to win a race in the ARA Pro Racing's Sunshine Coast rider, Plouffe, showed no signs of being caught for a moment as he picked up the pace just before the finish line in Warrnambool.

Josie Talbot (Sydney Uni Staminade) initially tried to get alongside Plouffe when he jumped, but quickly entered the slipstream to secure second place. [Talbot said, "Honestly, Maeve was exceptional. After Nicole [Frain's] attack, I thought I could get away from Maeve's wheel, but she was just too strong."

Although this is the inaugural Warrnambool Women's Cycling Classic, the one-day race in Warrnambool already has a lot of women's history: in 1980, Beryl Burton was the first woman to complete the event. In 1980, Beryl Burton was the first woman to complete the event. Later, a women's category was introduced for the 260 km race, which Loretta Hanson won for the first time in 2015; Tessa Fabry, Peta Mullens, and Reynolds won the race twice.

This year, however, for the first time a stand-alone event was held, incorporated into the National Road Series.

"This was a much better race and I'm really happy that the girls showed up really strong. I'm really happy that everyone took it so seriously," said Reynolds, the 2020 and 2021 women's category winner. 'There were attacks all day and I think it really showed the level of the peloton.'

The race may be 100 km shorter than Saturday's Melbourne to Warrnambool, which started in 1895, but organizers point out that it is still the longest women's one-day road race in the world in 2022. The distance is also about twice as long as the road stages found in the early competitions of the National Road Series, which Plouffe is leading.

Tracey Gaudry (one of 13 women on the Melbourne to Warrnambool finishers list before the women's category was introduced in 2015) sounded the starting gun in the lakeside town of Colac.

With plenty of distance still remaining, the field did not seem to try to cause any splits early on, and it was not until about 70 km into the race that a group of about 10 led by Emily Watts (Knights of Suburbia Racing) established a solid gap The group of 10 or so, led by Emily Watts (Knights of Sabbabia Racing), had certainly built a gap about 70km into the race. However, a bridge from the pack began to form on a gravel section, and more attacks came, but Amber Pate (Inform TMX Make) and Georgie Howe (Knights of Sabbabia) were unwilling to let their rivals go, even though they still had more than 80 km to go.

After all the attacks, the peloton of about 30 regrouped, but it did not last. With a little over 50 km to go, the group began to stretch and split.

ARA Pro Racing Sunshine Coast was the only team with two riders, Plouffe and Anya Roux, while the in-form TMX makeup included Reynolds, winner of the women's category at the last two Melbourne to Warrnambool. In addition, there was Talbot, Australian road champion Nicole Frayne (Roxsalt Rib SRAM), individual rider Megan Armitage, and Howe, who had just won the Tour of Gippsland.

This group of seven worked well together, with Lou supporting her teammate Plouffe, and quickly widened the gap.

It was left to the final kilometer to break the rhythm of the seven-man group, with the speedy Plouffe and Talbot clearly shaking up their rivals. After a hard run, Roux dropped to the back of the pack in the last 10km, but despite several attempts to break away, it was a sprint battle from the remaining six riders.

After Plouffe claimed victory, Roux, the under-23 time trial and criterium champion, finished 1:46 behind his teammate to win the young rider category.