Anna Henderson took aim at ‘boring’ Australian tactics as she was marked out of the women's road race at the Commonwealth Games.

The Hemel Hempstead star, a former skier, has impressed in the colours of mega trade team Jumbo Visma and completed the recent inaugural Tour de France Femmes.

That meant she was one of the favourites for Games gold and was the driving force of a five-strong breakaway group that opened a 16-second advantage with 35km left.

But it turned out Australian tactics and awkward street furniture stood in the way of clean breakaway in the 112km race that was held in and around Warwick.

This summer, Team England, supported by funding raised by National Lottery players, comprises of over 400 athletes, all vying for medal success.

With strong Australian, Canadian and New Zealand teams sitting on and keeping their riders in a prominent position for the sprint, Henderson could only cross the line in 24th place.

It was scant reward for Henderson’s efforts as team-mate Alice Barnes finished tenth with gold won by Aussie Georgia Baker and Scot Neah Evans taking silver.

She said “I thought the Australians had a good race plan, but I was strong enough to lead the break and win the sprint, so I wanted to be active.

“I knew it was the course for that and we were there for the sprint, but the Australians just played it really boring today and didn’t make a show of it.

“As a rider like me sometimes you’re going to get marked out. We made a break but unfortunately it came back. I was a bit disappointed today.

“We could have raced it better today, but the young girls did well in the sprint.

“There were a lot of crowds that were out there cheering us on which was great."

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