Newe NRS champion Ruth Corset Picture: Lachlan bence
By David Brehaut
RUTH Corset has made the most of an opportune ride to be new National Road Series women’s champion.
It was only by chance that she became a contender for the NRS title this year.
Corset initially joined the series on invitation.
The Townsville 35-year-old decided to make a serious tilt at the title after winning her first two events - the Battle of Border and Northern Western NSW Tour.
The former national road champion did not look back.
She finished eighth in the Tour of Canberra and third in the Shipwreck Coast Classic.
This gave her a stranglehold on the lead in the six-event series, needing only to figure prominently in the three-day four-stage Tour of the Goldfields in the Ballarat region to take out the crown.
She did just that at the weekend, finishing fifth to South Australia’s Nettie Edmondson in the general classification.
Corset said she was excited to capture the NRS title, which Cycling Australia presented to her at Snake Valley yesterday after the last stage of the Tour of the Goldfields.
“I never expected to win overall at the end of the year – I have really enjoyed my time racing in Australia after retiring from international racing,” she said.
Whether the part-time returns to defend the NRS title remains to be scene.
In the meantime though,
she has ruled out returning to Ballarat for January’s national road championships.
The 2010 road champion at Buninyong, Corset said her twin sister was expecting to give birth at the same time as the titles and would not be missing that special family event
Corset was also a linchpin in Pensar Hawk Racing taking out the 2012 NRS team championship.
Lisa Jacobs was second in the series.