Sarah Gigante (Team Garmin Australia) took the overall lead in the second stage of the Santos Festival of Cycling.

It was the second day in a row that the Australian time trial champion used her solo power to take the overall lead. In the first stage of the men's race, Luke Durbridge (Team Bike Exchange) took a nearly two and a half minute lead after 80km of solo riding. It was also not the first time Gigante has used this tactic, winning the final block of the 2020 NRS with a 55km breakaway, but no women's World Tour racer tried to chase her down then.

"Sarah was 10 times better than the rest of the field and kept putting in more time even though there were strong World Tour riders behind her," said Peta Mullens (Roxalt LIV Slam), who took the overall lead at the start of stage 2.

"We kept asking each other, 'Why is she still running? Her speed must have shown on the uphill. I'm happy to give her the jersey for that effort."

"It was a bold move for the 20-year-old to jump out at the front alone for more than 40 km, but Gigante is one of those bike riders who doesn't mind taking on the unattainable.

"The plan was to ride hard over the QOM, but it was a long, long way, so a realistic first plan was to sprint or late fly.

"Hopefully, I was going to get away with the climb, but I didn't think it would work out. But I did it and it worked out."

The lack of an organized chase in the early stages played into her hands.

"The other teams were panicking. We knew Sarah was pretty strong, so we just laughed," said race teammate Maeve Plouffe.

On the bike, the jovial rider quickly transformed into a fierce competitor on the bike. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic in his debut year, Gigante, a professional cyclist and college student, did not compete in as many international races as he had hoped.

However, Gigante has reminded her competitors that she should never be underestimated. The Victoria native caught the Australian powerhouse off guard in 2019, winning the elite road racing and under-23 national titles in her first year out of junior. And in 2020, she won a double time trial title.

No one would underestimate Gigante in the South Australian race after her second stage performance.

She is 1:53 ahead of her closest rival Peta Mullens and 2:10 ahead of Team Bike Exchange climber Lucy Kennedy, who is in 10th place.

"I love hills, so I'm sure I'll enjoy it, especially after that long time trial, but I don't know how it will go. But I'll give it a go," Gigante said.