Sarah Gigante smashes Strava record in Willunga Hill time trial win

Richie Porte and Sarah Gigante (AG Insurance-Soudal) were the unsurprising winners of a mass start time trial up Willunga Hill on Saturday morning, as the current and former pros went up against the public on the famed Tour Down Under climb.

The start ramp of the time trial was not exactly where the Strava KoM segment officially begins, but there was no stopping Gigante as she likely took a flying start to her effort and subsequently smashed her previous best time of 8:13.

Gigante, who won the Tour Down Under on Willunga Hill last Sunday, predictably won the women’s event, clocking a time of 8:16 - the time trial course did not match up to the Strava segment - five seconds faster than Marion Bunel in second. Last Sunday, the windy conditions meant that Gigante’s stage-winning time was over nine minutes, but the wind directions were much more favourable on Saturday.

There was slight confusion at first as to whether Gigante had managed to beat her previous Queen Of the Mountain record, but after uploading her effort to Strava, the scale of her achievement became clear.

In the time trial, Gigante clocked in a 7:53 effort on the Old Willunga Hill Strava segment, as she became the first woman in history to ride a sub-8 minute time on Australia's most hallowed climb. With an average power of 313 Watts, Gigante's new Strava record is remarkably 1:30 faster than the next female rider, Carlee Taylor.

Gigante and Bunel’s times were fast enough to put them seventh and eighth in the time trial event overall, beating all but six of the male starters, as the AG Insurance-Soudal rider fulfilled her promise of taking the best form of her career into this block of racing and attacking her 2021 QoM.

Read more:

• Sarah Gigante to chase Willunga Hill Strava KoM in Richie Porte time trial
• Sarah Gigante: I'm in the best form I've ever had ahead of Tour Down Under

After the event, Gigante took to X (formerly Twitter) to express her delight: "Everything was PERFECT about last weekend...apart from not beating my Strava time. Wind makes a big difference! Today I was over a minute faster, and more importantly, I was 20 seconds better than my 2021 PB! The sign at the top will have to be updated after all #havingfun."

Porte wins men's time trial, as Onley falls shy of overall record

Despite now being retired, Richie Porte remains the so-called king of Willunga after winning the men's time trial event on Saturday. The former pro set a time of 6:47 on the time trial course, surprisingly close to his KoM-topping 6:34 record.

Shortly after the time trial event, the men's Santos Tour Down Under peloton was to rampage up the climb on stage 5 of the race, and there was a sense that Porte's achievement might be bettered.

Read more: Riders recon Willunga Hill: Might the Strava records fall in Tour Down Under?

Oscar Onley (dsm-firmenich PostNL) originally set the fastest time so far this year in training and whilst his recon was still a good 30 seconds off Porte’s record, Israel-Premier Tech's Derek Gee soon went quicker than the British climber and it was becoming apparent that many riders were heading into the Tour Down Under in a rich vein of form.

Read More: 'I want to go for those podiums and wins' says Oscar Onley

With the wind blowing in favour of the riders and the race set to explode around punchy leader Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates), Porte’s long-standing crown was momentarily in peril as the likes of Chris Harper (Jayco AlUla), Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal Quick-Step) and Stevie Williams (Israel-Premier Tech) attacked on stage 5 of the Tour Down Under.

From the Willunga Hill chaos emerged Onley, who took a flyer on his race rivals and sprinted to victory atop the iconic climb. After his training ride had many tipping the Brit for victory, the rider from Scotland fulfilled his pre-race promise and landed a sensational first professional victory.

His blistering time up the Old Willinga Hill Strava segment, however, fell painstakingly one second short of matching Porte's KoM from 2020. Winning stage 5 with a segment time of 6:35, Onley would have to settle for the joy of stage victory, as Williams went into the race lead ahead of Sunday's final stage.

Read more: Tour Down Under: Stevie Williams ‘over the moon’ in leader’s jersey but tough defence looms

For more about the 2024 men's Santos Tour Down Under, including the route, startlist and latest standings, visit our dedicated race hub.