Grace Brown (Mitchelton-Scott) made a breakthrough in the Liège-Bastogne-Liège women's final at the highest level. The 28-year-old Australian attacked from a chase group of eight on the steep slopes of the Roche aux Faucons, 14km from the finish, and closed the gap to 50 seconds on Lizzie Deignan (Trek-Segafredo), who attacked on the court of La Redoute.

At the top of the climb, Brown was 32 seconds behind. On the descent, Brown closed the gap even further, bringing Deignan into sight several times in the last kilometer and reducing the gap to just 10 seconds. But as they approached the finishing straight, it was Dignan who raised his hands in joy, and Brown finished as the runner-up.

Brown explained that he was conflicted about his chances during the downhill chase.

"Part of my head was thinking, "I can't do this," and the other part was thinking, "I'm so close, I just need to push harder!" I thought. I was stronger in the time trial than Lizzie Deignan, but it was downhill most of the rest of the way. You have to put out a lot of power to get something there," she said.

Brown's time trial aptitude was proven by her fifth place finish at the ITT World Championships in Imola. In Liège-Bastogne-Liège, she struggled to be part of a decisive breakaway group.

"There was a hard, technical section in the middle of the race. 'Midway through the race, there was a hard, technical section. So I decided to bridge the break. Then Lizzie Deignan attacked on Redoute and opened up a gap.

"I tried to bridge to Lizzie on the last climb, but it didn't work out. It's a little bittersweet, but I'm really excited to get my first WorldTour podium."

Grace Brown only took up cycling in 2016 after repeated injuries set back her running career. She quickly made a name for herself in the Australian national road series, winning her first race in 2017 and being named to national teams in many European races.

In 2018, Brown received the Amy Gillette Scholarship and raced with Wiggle-High5 for three months before returning to Australia to win the National Road Series overall; in 2019 she will join the Mitchelton Scott team. In his first full season in Europe, he made a long attack at Ronde van Drenthe and was caught up in the last 15 km.

During his two years with Mitchelton-Scott, Brown often supported Annemiek van Vleuten and Amanda Spratt. With van Vleuten leaving the team at the end of the season, Braun's performance in the Ardennes has shown that she can establish herself as a leader.