After the opening women's stage of the Santos Festival of Cycling, Ruby Roseman-Gannon and Bike Exchange-Jayco missed out on a stage win, but the new women's WorldTour rider, who skillfully accumulated bonuses during the race, is in first place in the overall ranking She has moved up to first place in the overall standings.

Being fastest at the finish in Williamstown did not determine her overall lead, but rather the seconds generated by sprints during the race after leaving Tanunda. Emily Watts (Knights of Suburbia) took first place on the stage and earned a 10-second bonus second, while Ruby Roseman-Gannon had already gained six seconds in the intermediate sprint.

"Definitely a great start. I know I have good legs and I made some mistakes today.

The failure to make the final sprint after two perfect sprints during the stage may have "disappointed" newly crowned Australian criterium champion Roseman-Gannon a bit, but it was Roseman-Gannon's fourth win of the season. Despite the fact that Roseman-Gannon failed to score her fourth win of the season, the team's performance in the first stage will not shake the position of the man to beat, as is usually the case in Australian summer races.

There are fewer team riders than usual this summer, but three new riders, Roseman-Gannon, Alexandra Manley, and Georgia Baker, will be bolstered by guest rider Amber Pate, who finished second in the Australian Road Championship time trial. Manley and Baker are not inexperienced, having previously raced on the road with the Australian contingent, although in recent years they have concentrated on track events.

Manley has already shown his strength in a support role on numerous occasions this season, helping Roseman-Gannon win the criterium title despite being the only two riders in line for the road championships. Baker, too, was an immediate force, finishing fifth in the final line and second in the intermediate sprint. The time she recorded was eight seconds ahead of Nicole Frain (Roxsolt Rib SRAM), who finished third overall.

Longtime team pillar Amanda Spratt, another three-time winner of the Women's Tour Down Under, an international race held in South Australia at this time of year, also returned to racing after only a few weeks of training following iliac artery endometrial fibrosis.

Also not to be overlooked is the strength of 23-year-old Roseman-Gannon.

"I like the rain, I like the wind. I have a really strong team behind me and I'm really up for the challenge tomorrow." I'm going to give it my all to win the stage tomorrow."

Monday's second stage from McLaren Vale to Echunga will feature a long 20-plus km climb up Peters Creek Road, a Fig Tree climb and a 2.8 km dirt section to the QOM at Prospect Hill. They will then return to Echunga via Hahndorf to finish the 85.7 km race.