Daniek Hengeveld claimed her first World Tour stage in the opening stage of the women's Tour Down Under with a gutsy breakaway near Adelaide. The Dutchwoman stunned the peloton with an attack 50 kilometers from the finish, with a 36-second margin over Ally Wollaston and Kathrin Schweinberger who finished second and third respectively.
More action to follow: Two tough stages still to go, with Saturday finishing atop Willunga Hill and Sunday with more than 2,000m of vertical ascent on five Stirling climbs.
"I appreciate that he (DS) was still cheering me on because it gave me the extra watts. It was super unexpected. I really didn't expect that after quite a hard year last year with a big crash in the Tour of Britain and not racing for seven months. It's a good start for a small team like ours - maybe it was a little bit of luck, but we start on the right note."
-Daniek Hengeveld (Ceratizit-WNT)
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