Haylee Fuller joins NRS winner list at Tour de Brisbane

02 Apr 2023 | 05:00 PMBy: Josh Davies

New Team BridgeLane recruit Haylee Fuller has won her first AusCycling National Road Series (NRS) race in a surprising finish at the Australian Unity Tour de Brisbane.

Fuller rounded the final corner into King Street on lead-out duties for teammate Gina Ricardo and executed her role to perfection with a gap big enough for no one, including Ricardo, to come around the Dubbo product.

The 19-year-old's seated sprint led the one-two Team BridgeLane finish ahead of ARA Skip Capital’s Chloe Moran in third.

“It was definitely a tough race but the girls all worked really hard and we had a solid plan going into the race and we executed it perfectly,” Fuller said.

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“Everyone is really happy.

“I only signed a couple of weeks ago, so, second race with the team.

“Yesterday we had Oceays and we ended up winning U23 there, so that was exciting and to go one-two today was really good.”

NRS overall leader Sophie Edwards (ARA Skip Capital) finished fifth and retains the jersey.

Fuller is the new U23 NRS leader.

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How the race unfolded

The short and snappy 81km edition of the women's 2023 Tour de Brisbane proved to be a cagey affair, with the bunch holding together for the entire race.

With no ascents of Mount Coot-tha, it was always going to be a tough ask for any breakaway action to succeed, but that didn’t stop several attempts from the women’s NRS peloton to break the elastic band.

That ask did seem too tough of a task and as the finish beckoned in King Street it was Team BridgeLane and ARA Skip Capital who both assembled their strong sprint trains at the front of the bunch.

Team BridgeLane's Fuller was the most courageous into the final corner, powering in and braking late to create a gap to teammate Ricardo behind and the ARA Skip Capital lead-out.

A seated all-in effort from Fuller was enough to hold the gap and claim her first NRS win.