Grace Brown's victory in Liège-Bastogne-Liège marked two historic moments in cycling. She gave FDJ-SUEZ its first monumental victory since its creation in 2006 and became the first woman from Australia to win a cycling monument.

Brown is now joined by Stuart O'Grady (Paris-Roubaix 2007), Matthew Hayman (Paris-Roubaix 2016), Matthew Goss (Milan-San Remo 2011), Simon Gerrans (Milan-San Remo 2012, Liege-Bastogne 2014) Liege) join the list of Australian-born Monument winners.

Of the five Monuments, the women's peloton will compete in three of them: the RCS Sport Milan-San Remo and Il Lombardia do not offer women's races that run parallel to the men's, while the Women's World Tour includes ASO Paris-Roubaix and Liège-Bastogne -Liège as well as the Tour of Flanders classics.

"The team is super excited. It's our first Monument win. It's a bit of history for the team. It's a little bit of history for the team," Brown said in an interview with Cycling Pro Net, and he was happy at the finish line, with tears in his eyes.

Braun will join the FDJ-SUEZ team in 2022, aiming for success in the spring classics and Grand Tours. She often sets her season goals in the Ardennes Classics and has been on the podium twice in Liège-Bastogne-Liège, in 2020 and 2022.

"I think this competition has officially become my favorite race of the year. To have two second places here is special, and I always dreamed that if I was in the lead group I could win," Braun said.

Brown has won the Tour Down Under and Bourges des Pannes, won stages at the Women's Tour, Vuelta a Burgos, Challenge by La Vuelta, and Tour of Scandinavia, and has a podium finish at the Road World Championships, making her one of pro cycling's She has been one of Australia's top riders.

She won the Australian Championships Individual Time Trial for the fourth time in January, but was not at her best throughout the early part of the season until winning Liege-Bastogne-Liege.

"I can't believe it because I didn't have the best spring. I was really on a roll this week. It was the right time to finish this Classic. I'm really happy," Brown said.

Brown showed remarkable strength in the women's 153km race, forming part of the main breakaway group of eight that formed after the Côte de Stockault, chasing compatriot Sarah Gigante (AG Insurance-Souldal), who was ahead.

After catching Gigante, Brown, along with Elise Chaby (Canyon-SRAM) and Kim Katzow (EF Education-Cannondale) broke away from the small lead group, but was then joined by Casia Nieviadoma (Canyon-SRAM), Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek), and Demi Vollering (SD Walks-Protime) joined them.

"It's always a gamble to go early and stay on the brakes for a long time. But it was enough to get past Roche aux Faucons and into the lead group. I'm happy that everything worked out," Braun said.

With 6.8km to go, she entered the roundabout a little too early and had to brake to avoid a crash. She and New Zealand's Cazzo were forced off-road and had to cross the grass on the side of the road to get back on the pavement, making for a tense finale.

"Right before the last descent, I went up a bit in the corner and couldn't get around it properly. It was a bit stressful trying to catch up to the pack. I'm glad I didn't crash, but it didn't matter in the end."

The Australian and New Zealand riders rejoined the leading pack for the tactical finale. Nienyadoma attacked early on, but fell back slowly as Longo Borghini set him up. Brown timed his sprint to perfection and held off the Italian champion to take the win.

"There were a lot of attacks in the final. But you have to gamble a little bit. 'In a sprint final like that, somehow I have the patience of slow motion. I waited and got up to speed. It's very cool."