Image: Arne Mill / T.RF GmbH via Lotto Thüringen Ladies Tour

The Gold Coast 2018 gold medallist on the track has had an impressive road victory as we continue the countdown until the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.

Australian Cycling Team rider Alexandra Manly has earned her first UCI road race victory, winning the uphill sprint on stage 1 of the Internationale Lotto Thüringen Ladies Tour yesterday.

Manly profited from strong teamwork by Team BikeExchange-Jayco, with fellow Australian Ruby Roseman-Gannon performing the final lead-out at the end of the 101.8km stage from Hof to Hof.

Dutch rider Mischa Bredewold nearly survived to the finish after a late solo breakaway, but BikeExchange-Jayco completed the chase just in time for Manly to surge past with barely 50 metres remaining.

“Ruby actually swapped roles,” Manly said. “Today she was going to sprint, but she decided I was doing good and she committed for me, probably earlier than she’d wanted to because we still had another 50 metres on the rider in front.

“I wouldn’t have won without the team today. They were incredible.”

Manly, who hails from Kalgoorlie but developed through the South Australian Sports Institute, has raced for various iterations of the GreenEdge team since 2015. However, this is the 26-year-old’s first season back on the road since representing Australia in track cycling at the Tokyo Olympic Games and UCI Track World Championships.

The cross-discipline cyclist recently won two medals at the UCI Track Nations Cup in Milton, Canada.

Manly will wear the race leader’s jersey in tomorrow’s stage 2 from Gera to Gera.

The UCI 2.Pro Lotto Thüringen Ladies Tour is a six-stage race in Germany. Australia’s Amanda Spratt and Shara Marche (née Gillow) have both finished second overall at previous editions.\

With thanks AusCycling.