27/02/2005 WORLD CUP RACE - Geelong, Gilmore claims opening World Cup honours GEELONG (Australia) - Sydney's Rochelle Gilmore has claimed opening World Cup honours with victory in round one in Geelong. The 23 year-old Rochelle Gilmore (NSWIS) has taken her biggest win to date by winning the 119.2km opening round of the Women's UCI World Cup. Signalling both her return to form and her hunger to win after not being selected for the Australian World's team for the L.A. Track World Championships next month, Gilmore tore up the finish straight in sunny Geelong to win by a clean set of wheels over defending World Cup champion Oenone Wood and Australian track national's champion of champions, Kate Bates. While she didn't quite have the army of riders at her disposal as Oenone Wood did, Gilmore struggled over the climbs and put herself in the box seat for the final straight. "I though with two laps to go, when they hammered over the hill, that it was all over. I got dropped... but I got back on. I knew I had to push as hard as I could the last time over the hill. When I made it to the top with the front group on the last lap, I breathed really deep and then looked for Oenone's wheel in the finish." "The last kilometre is the easiest bit - all you have to be is in the top three. Everyone came up underneath in the last corner but I ended up on Oenone's wheel. It was just a matter of leaving the sprint late enough so I didn't die. I was fighting Susanne [Ljungskog] for a little while but I got the wheel I wanted and I had the confidence to take it. I think Oenone just wanted to get out in front and stay out in front and that worked to my advantage." Gilmore, who after the finish confessed to contemplating giving up over the last few years is back on top, after executing a textbook sprint. "After today, I've got one person to thank and that's Warren McDonald," said Gilmore of the national women's road coach. "Warren picked me up when I was at rock bottom and I'm so grateful for that." Defending World Cup champion and winner of this leg of the Cup last year, Wood, may have felt the pressure of being marked as she raced the sprint from the front and couldn't quite hold off Gilmore from 500m out. However, as consistency wins the World Cup, second place on the day is no disaster for Wood. "I was sitting second wheel in the last corner, I hoped the girl in front of me [Ljungskog] would stay out there a bit longer but I was in a position where I had to go early because riders started to come around... at 200 to go I was thinking "I hope I can hang on to this... I knew there were about five girls sitting behind me... so... next week [World Cup #2 - Wellington]." In third place was the in-form trackie Kate Bates, who leaves this race to prepare for the Track World Championships in L.A. in a month. "It was pretty crazy in the last few kilometres and a lot of girls went from about 500m out. Rochelle was smart and looked after herself to pop around Oenone and I. If I had better bike skills I would sneak through at the end too... when you are so close to the win you really want it, but I'm going away satisfied." Resplendent in her new jersey as World Cup leader, Gilmore responded to a question about whether she would head to Wellington, New Zealand for the second round of the World Cup, "I couldn't not now, could I!... with the leader's jersey. I guess things worked out well with not getting selected for the Track World's because I can just concentrate on the road. I'm heading overseas straight after NZ with Safi, the team I rode with in 2003. I'm looking forward to teaming up with Nicole Cooke and taking on the world again". courtesy by Mikkeli Godfree Results 1 Rochelle Gilmore (Aus) NSW Institute of Sport 2 Oenone Wood (Aus) Equipe Nurnberger Versicherung 3 Katherine Bates (Aus) Ton van Bemmelen AA Drink 4 Joanne Kiesanowski (NZl) SC Nobili Rubinetterie - Menikini Cogeas 5 Miho Oki (Jpn) Japanese National 6 Mirjam Melchers-Van Poppel (Ned) Buitenpoort-Flexpoint 7 Susanne Ljungskog (Swe) Buitenpoort-Flexpoint 8 Sara Carrigan (Aus) Ton van Bemmelen AA Drink 9 Tanja Hennes-Smidt (Ger) Buitenpoort-Flexpoint 10 Katie Brown (Aus) Australian Institute of Sport Il trionfo di Rochelle Gilmore nell'apertuta di Coppa del Mondo - Photo @ John Veage Il podio dominato dalla Gilmore a Geelong - Photo @ John Veage