Picture in Valkenburg at the start of the 3th stage of the TDFF (Featuring Grace Brown, Cecilie Utrup Ludwig and Loes Adegeest)
Going out with a bang is really an understatement. Becoming World Champion Time Trial in the year of your retirement already is something exceptional; it's even crazier if you think about the fact that Grace Brown was the first one to become Olympic and World Champion Time Trial in the same year.
The announcement
Let us return 3 months in time for a moment. June 21st, the day Grace Brown announced her retirement. For me personally, it came completely unexpected; next to that, it was also sad to realize she would no longer be in the peloton in 2025. But if you listen to her announcement, you can't have anything but respect. It's a really impressive and powerful decision to stop your cycling career at a high and prioritize your happiness above everything else.
Chapeau!
Career highlights
With Grace realizing the double and her retirement coming closer I felt like this was the ideal time to take a look back at her career, because there really is a lot to look back at!
Classics
There's nothing like the classics I would argue, the atmosphere (although the difference between men's races and women's races is still to big in my opinion), the Belgian crowds, its iconic hills and cobbles. The fact that Brown could win 3 different classics next to top tens in the other classics show how versatile of a rider she is.
The highlight of her time racing the classics will be Liège Bastogne Liège 2024 without a doubt. After being 2 times 2nd in Liège she finally succeeded in winning the monument. She beat the likes of Longo Borghini and Vollering in the sprint at Quai des Ardennes.
Grand Tours
Grand Tours weren't really the races Brown achieved the best results in. Often, she sacrificed herself by working for her team leader (e.g. Evita Muzic, Cecilie Utrup Ludwig, etc.).
She did succeed in winning one Vuelta stage (2022), and although you might expect it to be a Time trial, it wasn't! It was a punchy and very attractive stage. In the final, after a very attractive few kilometers, Grace Brown and Elise Chabbey finally succeeded in getting away at 9 kilometers from the finish. Although they immediately took 30 seconds on the small group with the likes of Kopecky and Balsamo, the group behind did come dangerously close. But in the end, Grace Brown beat Chabbey in the sprint, 8 seconds before Elisa Balsamo crossed the finish line.
Time Trials
To say Time Trials are Grace Brown's biggest love doesn't feel like an exaggeration. What I can imagine, though, is that before this year, it was Love-hate relationship. Apart from the Australian nationals, it didn't seem to work out on the highest level yet, from being vice world championships Time Trial two years in a row to numerous top tens in time trials in stage races. But this year, it seems to have really clicked.
From the seven time trials she rode, she won four, including a World and Olympic title!
Thank you
A selfie with Grace Brown at the start of the stormy Gent-Wevelgem 2023
Now it's time to appreciate the rider Grace Brown and thank her for all the positive things she brought into the peloton.
So, here we go! Thank you for always being accessible and having that big smile on your face at every race! Thank you for your amazing pre/post race videos on you Instagram stories! Thank you for showing the world that if you work hard, you will get rewarded eventually!
Thank you for your attractive race style!
And most important thank you for being YOU!
All there's left to say is that I want to wish Grace a good last few races and nice '2nd part of her life'!
Grace Brown will be missed in the cycling world, but certainly not forgotten!
Hi, thank you for taking your time to read my blog! I hope you enjoyed it!
If you have any suggestions, noticed a typo, have a question or simply want to talk with me about something, don't hesitate to contact me here with the chat function or on my socials by DM!
I'm planning content for the off-season so don't be shocked when it's a bit calmer here the next weeks! I'll do my best to stick to the one time a week blog post!
Hope to see you in the next one! <3
Btw, If you'd like to get a notification when a new post appears on my blog you can always subscribe!
Comments