QUOTES

Darren Hicks
Just this last weekend, we saw seven world records broken,so  you don’t just win one race and that’s a good year, you need to keep winning. I won three of the four World Cups on the road, two world championships and three national championships, and that’s barely enough. We have such a strong para squad and it’s a pleasure to be a part of it. It’s amazing to get this award.  
 
Paige Greco 
I’ve had a really awesome year, and it means a lot. Every time I look at it reminds me of an awesome year and it’s my first year on the team. I’ve been working really hard, and it’s been really good to see the results. It’s been an amazing year and I still can’t believe where I have been with my teammates!

Alistair Donohoe
This award highlights the fact I had to win three world championships just to get the award. David Nicholas was in there and he didn’t get an award. We’ve got some serious depth so it’s kind of exciting. I am stoked [with where I’m at], it just feels amazing to be back where I think I should be, after some ill health in 2017, I am really building back up in 2019. 

I personally think this award personally means a lot to me tonight. 

Carol Cooke
We have such a strong group of para-cyclists and that many world champions on this team. That being singled out for this [award] is very special, especially at this age and you know I hope that by showing people that it doesn’t matter what number it is that’s attached to your age and that if you love doing something that you can just keep doing it and reap the benefits of it. I think that this year has probably been the best year I’ve ever had because I didn’t put the pressure on myself that I had to be on the top step it was about enjoying it, it was about having fun and I probably had the most fun that I’ve ever had in a year of racing. 

Brandon Loupos
I don’t think it could have been better. It was cool. I can’t wait for 2020. I did so much learning in 2019 and it’s all about keeping that consistency in 2020 and to go or the gold in Tokyo. Logan won it (this award) two years in a row and I am stoked to come away with the win this year, it’s definitely an honour and to be the elite BMX cyclist of the year is pretty special. There’s a lot of world champions who don’t get to win this award and I’m blessed to not only win a world championship but to also win this award. 
 
Saya Sakakibara
It was a challenging but fulfilling season. Compared to last year I didn’t produce the results; I had a lot of mental challenges and having six crashes in four months it was definitely really tough to line up on the gate with other riders. But with the worlds I thought my performance was really good, I didn’t get the results I wanted but it adds fuel to the fire and makes me a lot hungrier. I finished off the season with a win at the Olympic test event and is such a great confidence booster. 
 
Amanda Spratt
It’s been a really great year and I am really proud to get this award tonight it caps it off, I think it’s been my best year to date. Maybe I didn’t get the same results on paper as what I got last year but I am really, really proud to finish off with a bronze medal after a great team performance also. It’s amazing, I love coming to this event every year, you get so much motivation out of it. You see the videos of what people have done and hear some stories you maybe didn’t know about some people and it’s just a feeling of motivation and excitement. I always walk out of here, ready to bust into training the next day!
 
Ashlee Ankudinoff
It’s pretty humbling, to be honest. I’ve been in this sport for ten years now and it’s been a long time coming. I’ve had a successful career and now I am getting towards the end so it’s really nice to come here and celebrate the success, not just the success of myself but of others. I definitely think I am in the form of my life. I have a great support network back in Adelaide and the environment there is unbelievable. I have trust in the process in what we’re doing. I go to training every day knowing that I have the support from everyone from the Cycling Australia staff.  Olympic gold is why I am still riding. I definitely would not be riding if I had ticked all my goals off and the Olympic gold is definitely one, and hopefully next August I can do that.

Sam Welsford
It’s been a ripper year. I never thought I’d be able to go dual world champion in one year, so I’m just really over the moon. I love coming to the Awards, it’s such a special night, to see Australia’s best come through to all celebrate the year we’ve had. I get really gee’d up when I see the year’s recap video, it makes you really forget about the Awards itself and makes you realise how special it is to ride for Australia.  
 
(On Tim Decker receiving Coach of the Year Award) Tim holds a special place in my heart he’s been my coach for a long time, starting in 2015 when I first moved to Adelaide, Tim backed me a said “look mate, if you want to be apart of this you’ve got to put the work in” so, I trusted him from then on. Really happy for him to get that award and I know that he holds the award itself very close to him. He strives and works really hard for that I think this is just a testament to what he puts in. ​

Australia's Amanda Spratt (Mitchelton-Scott) claimed the bronze medal in a stunning women's road race at the 2019 UCI Road World Championships in Yorkshire on Saturday. 

In one of the most incredible individual rides ever seen World Championship history, Dutch powerhouse Annemiek van Vleuten soloed the final 105 kilometres to claim the world champion's rainbow jersey. 

Following an epic battle in the chasing group across a punishing course, Spratt took the bronze behind 2018 world champion Anna Van der Breggen (NED). 

"That was epic. It was the hardest race I have ever done. Every part of my body was cramping, my thumb cramping in the end," said Spratt, who became the first Australian woman to claim two World Championships road race medals after winning silver in 2018. 

"I am really proud. I really feel like I have won this bronze medal."

Spratt's team of Brodie Chapman (Tibco–Silicon Valley Bank), Tiffany Cromwell (Canyon–SRAM), Lucy Kennedy (Mitchelton-Scott), Lauren Kitchen (FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope), Chloe Hosking (Ale-Cipollini) and Jessica Allen (Mitchelton-Scott) joined 152 starters from 49 nations for the 149km race from Bradford to Harrogate.

With the early pace set by the strong eight-rider Dutch outfit, debutant  Allen and Kitchen sheltered Spratt over the first 40 kilometres as the peloton approached the first major climb of the race, 'Lofthouse'. 

It was here Van Vleuten attacked as the climb further decimated the already dwindling peloton. Spratt took up the chase in a world-class nine-rider breakaway which included 2015 world champion Lizzie Deignan (GBR), reigning Olympic and world champion van der Breggen (NED), recently crowned 2019 time trial world champion Chloé Dygert Owen (USA) and Elisa Longo Borghini (ITA). 

With little cohesion in the chasing group, the powerful Dutchwoman established a lead of two minutes as she entered Harrogate for three laps of the challenging 14-kilometre town circuit. 

"Suffer suffer suffer. It was about who could suffer the most. I predicted it would be before the race and it was," said Spratt. "The race really opened after only 45 kilometres, and it was full gas racing which doesn't really happen very often.  

"I tried to play it smart, I chose to not participate in all the attacks but conserve and save my energy for the circuits, which was the smarter move. You only had some many bullets you could fire on this circuit and be careful how to use them, so I chose to wait to use them until later."

With the chasing group exploding as it approached Harrogate, Dygert launched a solo attack on Van Vleuten's lead. Spratt and Van Der Breggen shook the rest of the peloton including Deignan and Borghini, before absorbing a fading Dygert on the penultimate lap.  
With Van Vleuten's spectacular victory nearly complete some two minutes ahead, Van der Breggen attacked Spratt inside the final six kilometres and rode to the silver just seconds ahead of Spratt. 

"Once we got to the final circuit, everyone was dropping like flies," Spratt explained. "It was attack, after attack, after attack. One rider was dropped, then the next rider, then the next. It was survival of the fittest. 

"When Chloe (Dygert) was away, we weren't sure we could get her back, but once we did, we knew we were racing for a medal. In the end, Anna (van der Breggen) was just a little too strong in those last five kilometres."

Following her second straight World Championship medal, Spratt was content with what she considered an exhaustive performance.  
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"It was a brutal, brutal race and everyone finished with the tank completely empty," said Spratt. "There is not a lot I could have changed. Yes, you come here, and you want to win, but honestly, no one coming here today was going to beat her. 

"Sometimes you have to realise when someone is having an exceptional performance as Annemiek did today. Congratulations to her, she is a worthy world champion. She was on another level today." 

Moments after crossing the line, Spratt paid tribute to her teammates for delivering her to the crucial part of the race in position. 

"Anyone watching the race saw how amazing the team were. We knew that Lofthouse climb would be supercritical and they did a great job of looking after me and protecting to that climb where it all exploded, so I am really grateful to the team," said Spratt. 

"I am so proud of this medal, but also of the work the girls, also the staff, put in this week. It has been a really incredible feeling within the group and the whole team, all the staff and the riders, boosted all of us up this week." 

Following her second medal at the past two World Championships, Spratt reflected on her performances. 

"I have to pinch myself sometimes because I don't think of myself as of one of those riders," Spratt admitted. "But it has happened twice now.  

"I have hit my stride last two to three years, and it shows that all the hard work is really paying off. I did put a lot of pressure on myself, but I had excellent preparation. 

"I will take a lot of confidence out of this heading towards Tokyo 2020." ​

“Pretty cool to be here, it is an amazing place to have the finish line for the Olympic Games, will certainly be a great spectacle with the grandstands,” Amanda Spratt, 2018 World Championship road race silver medallist. 

“It is very different having such wide roads to race on, this is very different for us. But it is about picking which lines to take, so it has been really valuable to be here and ride the course.”

Greco who is aiming for selection to the Australian Paralympic team which will contest the Paralympic Games road race, individual time trial and team relay events, could picture the atmosphere expected in twelve months time. 

“Good to come here ahead of the Games to learn about the heat, to feel the atmosphere of being at the track, it is exciting knowing how big it will be next year with the crowd.” ​

What was your favourite cycling moment in 2018?

There were so many incredible moments for Australian cycling in 2018 it was difficult to narrow it down, but we have twelve amazing moments which make up our 2018 JLT Australian Cycling Moment of the Year.  

The Australian Cycling team figures prominently in the list via Rohan Dennis, Alistair Donohoe, Matthew Glaetzer and Luke Plapp's world titles, Steph Morton's triple gold at the Commonwealth Games, our team pursuit's stunning 3:49.804 ride at the Commonwealth Games, Logan Martin’s BMX-factor at the FISE World Series, and Amanda Spratt's stellar silver at the UCI Road Worlds!

Choose your favourite moment via the survey and you could be celebrating another fantastic year at the 2018 Cycling Australia Awards in Melbourne on Friday 23 November.  

Terms & Conditions 

Australia’s Amanda Spratt soloed the final 40km to claim a stunning silver in the women’s road race the 2018 UCI Road World Championships in Austria.

Reigning Olympic champion Anna Van der Breggen (Netherlands) soloed the final 39 kilometres of the race to to claim one of the most dominant victories ever seen at a World Championships. She finished over three minutes ahead of Spratt, with former world champion Tatiana Guderzo (Italy) taking bronze.
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“I honestly I think I can be really proud with the silver medal. It caps off a great season for me,” said Spratt, who became just the sixth Australian woman in sixty years to reach the World Championships' road race podium.

Spratt, Grace Brown, Brodie Chapman, Tiffany Cromwell, Shara Gillow, Lucy Kennedy and Sarah Roy, were among the 149 starters to set out on the 156km course which featured an 85km loop before three punishing laps of a 24km circuit with 2400m of vertical climbing.

Spratt was caught up in a early crash but recovered and with the help of team mate Kennedy, was able to remain at the front of the race and in touch of the pre race favourite Dutch team and form part of the crucial breakaway.    

On the penultimate lap, Van der Breggen launched herself from the main field to join Spratt's group, and despite her best efforts, Spratt was unable to keep the wheel of the Dutchwoman.

Van der Breggen soloed to the biggest winning margin in thirty years (3mins 42secs), while Spratt powered the final 40km home on her own to finish two minutes ahead of Guderzo. 

“It was a tough race out there, the whole team did an incredible job throughout the first stage to get me fresh to the final,” said Spratt, whose season has included victory at the Santos Women's Tour Down Under and Emakumeen Bira, a stage win at the Giro Rosa and podiums at Amstel Gold and at Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
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“That meant I could get into that break before the second last climb where I knew the Dutch would attack. I was waiting for that move. 

“Anna came across so quickly, I really tried to hold her wheel up that climb. She was honestly on another level today, she really deserves that title.”

Australian Cycling Team members Amanda Spratt, Gracie Elvin and Sarah Roy are celebrating after a dominant performance at the most prestigious women’s Tour on the calendar, the Giro Rosa. 
 
The three members of the Australian women's outfit Mitchelton-Scott combined with fellow Aussie Jess Allen, world time trial champion Annemiek van Vleuten (NED) and Jolien D’hoore (BEL).

van Vleuten made history by winning the final stage and securing the Tour win for the first time in the team’s seven-year history, while Spratt became the first Australian in 24 years to finish the Tour on the podium.

Spratt, who won stage six, grabbed third on GC and the green points jersey. 

“We came here wanting to win the Giro-Rosa as a team and Annemiek has done it and it is really thanks to the entire team. The riders, the staff, everyone has worked so hard for this, it’s giving me goosebumps to see how well we have all worked together," said Spratt.