Wollaston thanks team-mates for victory
New Zealand cycling star Ally Wollaston has sprinted her way to overall victory on the final day to win the Tour of Britain.
The Suez FDJ professional went into the last stage of the UCI World Tour race around the streets of Glasgow trailing emerging British star Cat Ferguson, from Movistar, by 3sec.
Wollaston revelled in the circuit racing, picking up the time bonuses in winning all three of the intermediate sprints in Glasgow then securing the overall honours with a desperate final sprint for third on the stage.
It gave the Kiwi rider the vital last four bonus points to secure the overall victory on general classification.
"I'm a little bit overwhelmed," Wollaston said.
'I knew it was a lot to pull off today, winning three sprints and having to still get seconds in the final. I knew the race really had to go my way today.
'I'm so, so immensely grateful for my team-mates for making it pan out that way. I really couldn't have done that on my own out there.
'If you looked at every sprint that I did well in today, I was never isolated. I had a team-mate going into the last corner every single time and it made a world of difference.
'This means the world to me. It's my first World Tour victory in GC.
'Often a lot of the times on the track, I race best in omniums when I'm not leading from the front, and I think I found it super-motivating today not having to defend the win. I find it a lot easier on the mind chasing rather than defending."
Wollaston has won two world titles on the track as well as silver and bronze medals at the Paris Olympic Games.
While the New Zealand star won a World Tour race in Australia in February, this was her first World Tour GC win in a stage race.
"It came down to the last sprint, and there was a moment of doubt halfway through that last lap where I thought 'I just cannot do this today', and my team-mates really helped me pull it together and pulled me to the front for the final.''
The final stage was held on an 8.4km city-centre circuit in Glasgow.
— APL
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