Italian sprinter Sofia Bertizzolo has continued her strong start to the season, winning the Geelong Classic criterium.

The UAE Team ADQ rider, who won the sprint classification at Adelaide’s Tour Down Under earlier this month, made her final move early on Wednesday and no one could catch her on the line.

Australian Georgia Baker (Jayco Alula) had her third runner-up finish this month and Italian Francesca Barale (Team DSM) completed the podium.

A crash took out three riders at the finish.

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“It was a strange finish because I felt the peloton was coming super fast and we were all in the gutter close to the fence so it was a close finish,” Bertizzolo said.

“When I heard that there was a crash in the back, I was not ready to launch but then I thought someone would overtake me, so I just went super-long (with her sprint).

“It’s also slightly downhill so I had already picked up my speed and I was sure nobody could have passed me at that point.”

The street race is a hitout for the women ahead of Saturday’s Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, which will start and finish in Geelong.

“When I came here yesterday and did a recon, I was very happy with the terrain. It’s kind of like Ardennes Classic with this local look. It’s exactly what I like, so fingers crossed.” Bertizzolo said of Saturday’s race route.

Ahead of the men’s race on Sunday, their mid-week hitout will be the 158.6-kilometre Surf Coast Classic road race on Thursday, with an inland course taking the field from Lorne to Torquay.

Australian star Luke Plapp (Jayco AlUla) is on the start list for Thursday’s race, but it is unclear whether he will race at all in Geelong as he recovers from the severe road rash he suffered in a crash last week at the Tour Down Under.

-AAP