Monumental victory: History made as cycling export wins famous race

In what is a timely confidence booster ahead of the Paris Olympics, the 31-year-old south-west champion, who competed in the Warrnambool Women's Cycling Classic earlier this year, sprinted away from an elite group in the Monument race on Sunday, April 21, 2024.

Brown, who finished runner-up in 2020 and 2022, became the first woman from Australia to win one of cycling's Monuments.

"It was officially my favourite race of the year. It's been special having two second places here and always dreamt I could win it," she said in a post-race interview with Cycling Pro Net.

"It's quite unbelievable, I didn't have the best spring but this week I started to feel really good. I'm really happy.

"It's always a bit of a gamble when you go early and you're in the break a long time. You never feel fresh going into the final but it was just enough to be there in the front group."

There were a few nervous moments for the Victorian, surviving a late scare near the finish, hitting the brakes after entering a roundabout too quickly.

"It all worked out. Just before the final descent I locked up a bit on the corner, it was quite stressful. I'm glad I didn't crash," she said.

The Commonwealth Games gold medal winner said she felt calm leading into the frenetic sprint finish to the 153km race.

"For some reason I always have this slow-mo patience in a sprint final like that and I just waited and came with speed and it was enough to come away with the race (win)," she said.

She also provided her team, FDJ-SUEZ its first Monument win since its inception in 2006. Brown joined FDJ in 2022.

"The team is super excited. It's our first Monument win, it's a bit of a history-marker in the team. I'm super happy," she said.