Cecilie Uttrup-Ludwig capped off her Australian summer with a podium finish in the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Women's race in addition to her stage win in the Tour Down Under.

She jumped out of the peloton in the final 10km of the race, but was caught by Rosita Reinhout (Visma Lease-a-Bike) and Dominika Vłodarczyk (UAE Team ADQ) on Melville Road before Vłodarczyk attacked solo for the win.

"The last two laps were super hard. Obviously, everyone wanted to be in front on the climbs, and the lead-out at the end was super hard. I was actually a little bit behind, but I managed to get out in front and attack."

"But I was totally red-hot going over there, so when they caught up to me I was full of lactic acid. It was really hard to keep turning and I tried my best, but the two girls were so strong."

"Honestly, I was at my limit. But we tried, and sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't."

Uttrup-Ludwig made his move on the steepest part of the Charambra Crescent. They led the peloton on the climb, but the Dane's stinging acceleration separated them.

In windy conditions throughout the day, Uttrup-Ludwig stalled on the Melville Street false flat and the final climb.

The young 19-year-old Reinhout made a momentary hesitation to break away from the leaders with less than 5km to go, and Uttrup Ludwig made a final push with 300m to go, but neither she nor Włodarczyk could prevent the Dutchwoman from winning her first professional and first World Tour race!

"Today, I'm going to try to win the World Tour.

"I wish I could have won today," said Uttrup Ludwig. "But I did my best and I think I enjoyed the Australian summer.

FDJ-Suez was unable to repeat her dominating start to the season like she did in 2023, when she won both the Tour Down Under with Grace Brown and the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race with Rose Adagest, but on the second day On the second day, Uttrup Ludwig took a stage win in the TDU, third place in this race, and the title in the Australian national time trial with Brown to round out the Australian summer.

It was a tough Tour Down Under for Brown, who was left injured throughout the three stages and was not in contention for the win, but he came back strong in today's race, finishing 5th.

"Super good. It's really nice to see her [Braun] back to her best and I hope to capitalize on this and continue the fireworks when we go to Europe," said Uttrup-Ludwig.

Uttrup Ludwig will return home after a busy season-opening schedule before heading to Europe for the classic races, Omloop Het Nuusblad and Strade Bianche.