Welcome to the Australian Cycling Team's 30 from 30! 

Across the month of April, a host of current Australian Cycling Team members, coaches and staff, plus former Australian Cycling Team athletes, will take you behind the scenes to show you some of the unique and different ways we are keeping healthy and active, keeping a routine and staying connected, and supporting our community by helping to inspire and motivate in your own endeavours at home.

Whether you’re in isolation in Australia or across the world.

Follow the #AusCyclingTeam at Facebook @AustralianCyclingTeam, Instagram @AustralianCyclingTeam and Twitter @AusCyclingTeam

As we reported on 18 March, one of our Adelaide-based staff members tested positive to COVID-19 on Monday 16 March. The team member is receiving the right medical support and is in good spirits in hospital and making progress. 

Government health authorities have undertaken tracking and tracing, as per their policies and processes. 

In addition to these measures, we have chosen to test six additional team members - comprising three athletes and three staff - this decision was a precautionary measure only. Five have since returned negative results. We expect to receive the remaining test result over the next 24-48 hours and will provide an update when this is received.

Following a review of this situation, we are confident that staff and athlete exposure to the infected staff member was extremely low primarily due to a pre-planned staff and athlete break from the Adelaide training environment for the period of 7-15 March.

In responding to this situation, Cycling Australia and the Australian Cycling Team have activated its Critical Incident Management Team. This team convenes daily to facilitate rapid decision making and leadership. 

Cycling Australia and the Australian Cycling Team have been proactive in implementing a range of measures aimed at reducing the potential impact of the infection over and above government public health recommendations and considerations.  

Further to this, we have been proactive in implementing evidence-based hygiene practices and education as far back as 2018, and more recently we stepped up and reinforced hygiene practice for travel and training prior to the 2020 season. We are confident that we have taken and continue to take prudent measures to maximise athlete and staff health.

Recent measures that have been taken to reduce infection risk and protect staff and athletes:

• Super-drome closures this week; 17-20 March
• Additional cleaning of the training environment and office spaces
• Social distancing measures such as reduced staff and athletes at the Super-drome, reduced working in closed spaces and reducing contact and face to face meetings, the closing of meeting spaces such as athlete lounge and kitchen areas will be implemented from 23 March
• Podium Potential Academy athletes have returned to their families and home states
• SASI Development athletes will train outdoors for the next four weeks, providing more space between people, and sessions in the venue 
• Continued vigilance on best practice hand hygiene and no handshaking

On the performance side, we have been proactive in short and medium-term planning with scenario and contingency planning for all high-performance competition and domestic racing and camps with a continuing priority focus on protecting the health of athletes and staff. 
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We are seeking to provide both a training purpose and appropriate objective setting but also being considerate of the broader global impact of this infection pandemic.  

Simon Jones, Performance Director, Cycling Australia

More: The most up to date information on COVID-19 (Coronavirus) can be found at the Australian Government Department of Health website with advice and information relating to high-performance environments found at the AIS webpage.

Over the next few months, the athletes and teams that will represent Australia in the five cycling disciplines - Road, Track, Mountain Bike, BMX Racing and BMX Freestyle - at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games will be announced. 

Below is a summary of the Olympic Qualification and Selection Timing situation as it currently stands.
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We understand this is ever-evolving and rapidly changing due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and we will await further updates from the AOC over the coming days and weeks. 

Table: Announcement Date, Events & Quota Places per cycling discipline

After lots of food and Netflix on the rest day, it was time for the Cadel Evans / Deakin University Great Ocean Road Race, the first Women’s World Tour race in the Southern Hemisphere. Geelong put on a good demonstration of typical Victorian weather going from scorching hot to freezing cold and windy.

The aim of the race was to protect Ruby as much as possible and the most crucial moments of the race was in the crosswinds and before the first climb. We were really happy with how well we rode as a team, staying together and positioning well, which was something we had been working on all summer.  

Unfortunately with about twenty kilometres to go there was a huge crash at the bottom of a descent (before the drag towards the final QOM) and Anya, Nicole and myself came down. Anya and I were lucky enough to get back up unscathed and finish the race. Nicole, unfortunately, crashed hard and was taken to hospital. Once again, just like Torquay, Ruby showed she’s one of the best, pulling off an incredible twelfth in her first race against the World Tour Professionals. 

Looking back on my week, it lived up to a lot of my expectations and I was pleasantly surprised with how I handled the hype of world tour racing. I was lucky enough to have some experienced girls around me and the incredible staff whose support I am very grateful to have. 

I’m keen to take what I’ve learnt to the Herald Sun Tour with ARA Pro Racing Sunshine Coast!

For each Summer of Cycling, Cycling Australia prepares endurance development racing teams for the Santos Tour Down Under, Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race (CEGORR) including Race Torquay, and the Herald Sun Tour.  

The development opportunity for athletes within Australia's High Performance Network and National Road Series teams to contest UCI events within Australia.

One of the youngest to line up at the 2020 Santos Tour Down Under was Adelaide teenager Sophie Edwards who switched the green and gold of the Australian Cycling Team’s Podium Potential Academy to take her place on the Team UniSA-Australia outfit.

A Junior Track World Championship medallist in 2018, Edwards joined the Academy in the same year, with a blend of track and road in 2019 resulting in two elite World Cup appearances in Hong Kong and Glasgow, while also taking part in a winter road racing program in Belgium. 
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Sophie penned her thoughts on her week at the Santos Tour Down Under for us below.

Last week I was grateful to be given the opportunity to swap out the track bike and take part in the Santos Women’s Tour Down Under. It has been a dream of mine to race the TDU, as I’ve not only watched it eagerly every year as a child in my hometown, but I also rode the family ride when I was seven, assisted at presentations and cleaned bikes in a valet service. 

The Santos Women’s Tour consisted of three hilly stages, all well over 100km with upwards of 1500m climbing. These challenging stages were followed by a technical street-circuit criterium in the heart of Adelaide, which preceded the men’s Schwalbe Classic. ​

It all started in Hahndorf, a 115km stage with close to 1500m of climbing. The streets were decorated and there was a much larger crowd than I expected! It was a tough race, with the strong World Tour teams setting the tempo high up the climbs. 

It was awesome to see a daring attack by Australian Brodie Chapman almost pay off before she was caught in a super technical finishing circuit with the sprint won by another Australian, Chloe Hosking. It was a massive learning experience for me as I couldn’t just try and finish, I had to constantly be aware of where my team was and assist our GC rider as much as I could. 

Nine-time track world champion Cameron Meyer (Mitchelton-SCOTT) became the first Australian man to claim the Road National Championships trifecta after securing an emotional maiden road race crown in a stunning final lap attack at the 2020 Federation University Road National Championships in Buninyong on Sunday. 

Twelve years after finishing fourth as a 21-year-old in his first elite race, and just twelve months after leading the race inside the final few kilometres before being edged to the bronze medal, Meyer added the gruelling elite men’s road race to his dual time trial (2010, 2011) and criterium (2013) crowns.

“I have no words to describe this. It means so much to me, there is a lot of emotion on this day, there is a lot of history in it for me. Twelve years ago at 21, I fell in love with this race,” said Meyer.

​>>> Full Recap

Team Pursuit world record holder and dual reigning track world champion Sam Welsford claimed his first elite road medal along with his maiden national road title when he took out the criterium held in wet and windy conditions in Ballarat. 
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“I am over the moon. This has been in the back of my mind to try to win this race. Last year I missed the mark a little bit so it's great to come back this year and take the win,” said Welsford.

>>> Full Recap

Rally Cycling's Chloe Hosking took the victory in a thrilling sprint to the finish to claim her maiden elite national title. 

2018 Commonwealth Games gold medallist Hosking edged Brunswick’s young star Ruby Roseman-Gannon and Mitchelton Scott’s Gracie Elvin who rounded out the podium.

“This is my first elite national jersey, despite being around forever, so it is nice,” said Hosking. “It was important for me this year as I am going to America to race with an American team and we do a lot of criteriums. I really wanted to take the green and gold crit jersey with me and I have done that so I am really excited. 

​>>>> Full Recap

Podium Potential Academy's Luke Plapp (Inform TM Insight MAKE) took out a convincing win over team pursuit world record holder Kelland O’Brien by fourteen seconds in the time trial.

“It’s pretty amazing, it’s been a year since I’ve been in the {world championship] jersey, it was such a quality field here today, I was riding with one of my idols Kell [O’Brien].”

>>> Full Recap

Photos by Cycling Australia - Con Chronis/Zac Williams

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. ​

n atrocious conditions that felled the greatest cyclists in the world, Australia's Michael Matthews finished a gallant 24th in the 2019 UCI Road World Championships men's road race in Yorkshire.

‪"It was horrendous, not too many words can describe the day," said Matthews, the 2015 silver and 2017 World Championship bronze medallist who was just one of 45 finishers from 196 starters.

"It was one of those ones that winds you down. I tried to accelerate at the end, but I had nothing.

"In terms of conditions, that was the hardest race I've ever done."

The north of England saved the worst for last with the men's elite race set to live on in history as the definitive example of a “race of attrition".

Heavy rain during the night across the region forced Yorkshire 2019 organisers and the UCI to divert the 280km race away from the flooded northern section of the course.

With the diversion eliminating two key climbs in Buttertubs and Grinton Moor, while seeing an increase in the laps of the technical 14 kilometre Harrogate finishing circuit from seven to nine, pre-race team plans were changed in an instant.

An early breakaway of eleven riders was established inside the first twenty kilometres of the revised 261km battle, with the Australians controlling the pace of the peloton through dual reigning time trial world champion Rohan Dennis.

With team captain Rory Sutherland (UAE-Team Emirates) calling the shots while the entire team surrounded Matthews in an attempt to protect him from the atrocious weather, Dennis drove the pace of the peloton through horizontal rain for the next 120 kilometres.

Dennis' superb efforts reduced the breakaway's margin from two and half minutes down to ninety seconds as the race approached the Harrogate circuit. As they hit the first lap of the circuit, Dennis and Sutherland hung up their bikes for the day after a perfectly delivered team performance.

The race was quickly brought back together on the first lap and the urgent pace setting during the early Harrogate circuit laps saw riders shed from the peloton seemingly at every kilometre.. Riders who ended their race in this phase included Australians Mitchell Docker (EF Education First), Nathan Haas (Team Katusha Alpecin) and Luke Durbridge (Mitchelton-Scott).

Simon Clarke's (EF Education First) efforts came to an end on the third last lap, with Jack Haig (Mitchelton-Scott) the team's only remaining support rider for Matthews until he lost contact on the penultimate lap.

One of the many race favourites Mathieu van der Poel (NED) attacked with two laps to go alongside Matteo Trentin (ITA), Gianni Moscon (Italy), Mads Pedersen (NED), and Stefan Kung (SUI) and while this group appeared cohesive and capable, the main bunch began to fade.

Teams that needed to chase were fast running out of bullets, while mechanicals, exhaustion, hunger flats, hypothermia and old fashioned "getting dropped" had relentlessly whittled the riders from nearly 200 to well below 50.

Despite the lead group being just a tantalising 50 seconds up the road, the bunch struggled to get themselves coordinated, and with Trentin unable to muster a winning sprint, it was the 23-year-old Danish rider Pedersen who held his nerve and watts to take the win from Trentin and Kung.

‪"I knew it was always going to be difficult, a bit of a gamble of a race," Matthews added. "With four laps to go, when a group of five went, we didn't have any guys to go with it.

"I was trying to wait for the last two laps until I moved, but they didn't come back.

"I was wound down too much, the guys were gone, I think there was a sprint for fourth of fifth, but the race was over.

Team Director Brad McGee was proud of the team's overall campaign for the World Championships and in particular their performance on what was the most testing of days.

"One of the toughest! You saw some of the mightiest bike riders on the planet today just stopping suddenly; going from a potential performer to zero," McGee said. "Michael, gallant to the end, but just legless in the last half lap. It happened to Clarkey too; all the boys finished as if it was the hardest race they have ever done.

"I don't know how you prepare for a day like today, physically you can't do anything, mentally you have your strategy, and you are confident with that. At the end of the day, there is an element of being born and made for the mud.

"We didn't have that today. But we gave it everything we could, we stuck to the strategy, stuck together, fought until the end.

"They made the perfect adjustments according to how the race unfolded. In the end, we just didn't have the firepower to make an impact," McGee added.

PHOTOS 

By Casey Gibson

The Australian women's team is preparing for a sufferfest in Yorkshire when they tackle the 150km women's road race at the 2019 UCI Road World Championships on Saturday 28 September.  

Beginning in Bradford, riders will take in the Yorkshire Dales for 108km of testing terrain before hitting the tricky, technical Harrogate finishing circuit for three laps. Race & Course details.

The third longest race on the women's calendar for the season with almost 2,500m of climbing including an uphill run to the finish line, the women's peloton believes there will be nowhere to hide in Saturday's race. 

“I think it still just as hard as I remember, we died a thousand deaths up the the Lofthouse Climb on Wednesday in training," Spratt joked. "But that climb will be really critical  I comes early so it will be interesting to see how that affects the race as a whole.

“I think it will be on, just be a sufferfest, it’s going to be how much can you suffer on Saturday."

Spratt, the 2018 silver medallist, enters the race in stellar form and will be supported by a strong green and gold outfit 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). 

“The preparation has gone really well, I am fit, I am strong, targeting this again," Spratt said. "I am excited, I think we have a great Australian team, a lot of depth and experience.

"I think everyone on the team will contribute to a great result and I am really looking forward to it."

Kennedy who was a standout while on her debut at the 2018 World Championships, is nervously excited for the unknown.

“I am preparing for the hardest race I have ever done basically, there are no easy sections on this course whatsoever," said Kennedy who has enjoyed multiple wins in 2019 including Kennedy at Durango-Durango Emakumeen Saria and the San Sabastian Classic. “Watching the junior boys on Thursday, they were all on their knees.

“I am less nervous because I have done it once before, but more nervous because the 2018 course suited me better.

"It is a tricky and technical course, and I like that aspect, but there is the unknown of this course."

"It is going to be brutal, super aggressive and hopefully great to watch," said Hosking, who heads into the Championships in hot form after claiming stage wins in Italy and Spain this month. 

Team captain Tiffany Cromwell is predicting the mental challenge will prove the decisive factor on Saturday.

"It is definitely tough, we all knew that, we all expected that," Cromwell said. "It is going to be a race of attrition, a real mental race.  The person who wins on Saturday will be the strongest mentally." 

Twenty-year-old Kaden Groves (Mitchelton-Scott) is looking forward to a 'brutal' under 23 road race at the 2019 UCI Road World Championships in Yorkshire.  

Groves arrived in Yorkshire on Tuesday ahead of Friday's 173km under 23 road race where he will team with Samuel Jenner (Team Wiggins Le Col), Liam Magennis (Drapac-Cannondale Holistic Development Team), Harry Sweeny (EvoPro Racing) and Nicholas White (Team BridgeLane)​​. 

"We have such a strong line up with a bunch of guys who can all play a role to achieve the best possible result," he explained. "We are all mates and have a great relationship having raced together either at the Tour de L’Avenir or as teammates on the past seasons.

"I think the course suits me really well, just the right amount of climbs for me and a somewhat technical finishing circuit. Obviously it's going to be a hectic race, under 23 racing is not controlled and as the biggest race of the year.

"I am expecting it to be brutal."

A latecomer to cycling in 2014, the Sunshine Coast Cycling Club cyclist claimed an Australian junior road title in less than two years later, before putting himself on the radar of international teams with a stage win in China at the 2017 Tour of Fuzhou. 

Joining Mitchelton's development squad in 2018, Groves then switched to join SEG Racing for 2019. Riding under the Team Australia colours at the 2019 Tour de I'Avenir, Groves claimed a podium finish in one of the toughest stages.  

"This year's edition of the Tour de L’Avenir was always going to be a hard one, it consisted of many hilltop finishes and stages for the climbers but not so many for the sprinters,” said Groves, who admitted the second place has fuelled his hunger for the top step. 

"With breakaways staying away every stage, I needed to go up the road for opportunities, I finished second on stage six which was honestly a huge disappointment and I wanted to win so I’m not satisfied.”

For the latter half of 2019, Groves has joined Mitchelton-Scott’s WorldTour outfit as a stagiaire, and as one of the youngest in the field, he tested himself in three classics in Belgium. 

"Both Brussel and Antwerp were great opportunities to race in a new environment with my future teammates. These one-day races will also play an important role in the lead up to the World Championships," Groves added. 

2019 UCI Road World Championships - M23 Road Race

• Samuel Jenner (Team Wiggins Le Col), Liam Magennis (Drapac-Cannondale Holistic Development Team), Harry Sweeny (EvoPro Racing), Nicholas White (Team BridgeLane)​​, Kaden Groves (Mitchelton-Scott)
• Starts 2pm (11pm AEST), Estimated Finish 6.30pm (3.30am AEST)
• 173km, Doncaster to Harrogate 
• worlds.yorkshire.com/the-races/men-u23-road-race​
• Watch live in Australia - Streaming to SBS OnDemand and Cycling Central website 

South Australia's Rohan Dennis emphatically defended his time trial world title in a stunning performance at the 2019 UCI Road World Championships in Yorkshire on Wednesday. 

The 29-year-old dominated the 54-kilometre individual race against the clock from start to finish, taking the world champion’s rainbow jersey by more than one minute. 

"It might have looked easy out there today, but there has been a lot of work off the bike behind the scenes to get myself ready for today," said Dennis. "I am happy that I have been able to produce what I knew I could to get these rainbows back.. 

“It really shows that I am not going anywhere.  That I am here to win, and I am here to continue winning in the future."

The final rider of 57 to take to the 54-kilometre course from Northhallerton to Harrogate, Dennis powered to a 19 second advantage over teenage sensation Remco Evenepoel (Belgium) at the first time check at the 16.7 kilometre mark. 

Maintaining a steady rhythm and pace set by his coaches, Dennis extended his margin to more than a minute at the 37-kilometre checkpoint. 

Dennis continued his momentum through the technical, undulating sections outside of Harrogate before soaring to a second straight rainbow jersey in a time of 1hour 05:05secs, 68-seconds ahead of Evenepoel with Filippo Ganna (Italy) a further 45 seconds back. 

"I only saw the course for the first time last Saturday, and we loved it instantly. My coach Brad said I was made for it," remarked Dennis. "I was confident before the race as I knew we had hit all of the numbers in training. 

"So today there was nothing left but to let the legs do the talking. I knew I had done all the work and to execute what I could on the road.  

"And I was comfortable with my pace from the start. When I saw I was up by 20 seconds, I felt good. Then I was up by 60, so I knew just had to stay calm, keep a good rhythm and don't take risks down the hill. 

"It was a really nice course so whoever designed it, thanks for that - good job!"

Dennis' preparation for his title defence in Yorkshire was remarkably different to that of twelve months ago with a steady diet of training blocks feeding his pursuit for a second rainbow title.

"It has been the toughest period of my career, it was almost breaking," revealed Dennis, who enjoyed an emotional celebration with wife Melissa and eight-month-old son Oliver at the finish. "To have my family here this year was so special. My wife is an angel. 

"While I have been home for the last ten weeks, it has been tough for both of us. There have been testing times, with ten weeks between races, there were a couple of times I'd throw in the towel. 

"But I have a lot of great people in my corner, pushing me to keep my head on. So thank you to my wife, my coach, my psychologist. 

"It was a team effort, and that's really why I was so emotional. A lot of people helped me get here, so it's great to repay them."

Dennis' considerable winning margin allowed time for a victory salute as he crossed the line, with the Adelaide cyclist pointing to his head as a reminder about what lead him to the victory. 

"I was reminding myself today was all in my head," Dennis said. "It was the work I did off the bike on my mental state to make sure I am strong mentally, and that is what got me through today.  

"I've done a lot of work with my sports psychologist David Spindler. I mean physically I have always had it, but it was always the negativity in my head thinking not the positive things.

"And out there today I didn't waiver once which I had struggled with all year up until today. That work has been super important, and today, we nailed it."

In what was his thirteenth consecutive year representing the green and gold, a journey which began with ninth in the junior time trial at the 2007 World Championships, Dennis thanked his supporters in Australia. 

"Australia is always backing me through the tough times and the good times," he added. "It is good to have that support from the national body Cycling Australia. 
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"I have been a part of this team at every World Championships since 2007. It has been a good, long-lasting relationship, so let's keep it going." 

Reigning Australian champion Luke Durbridge, the 2009 junior and 2011 under 23 world champion, finished thirteenth, three minutes behind Dennis. 

Dennis and Durbridge will now switch the focus to Sunday's 280km road race where they will team with 2015 world championship silver medallist Michael Matthews (Team Sunweb), Simon Clarke (EF Education First), Mitchell Docker (EF Education First), Nathan Haas (Team Katusha Alpecin), Jack Haig (Mitchelton-Scott) and Rory Sutherland (UAE-Team Emirates). ​

Photos © Casey Gibson

Amanda Spratt finished just outside the top ten in eleventh in a rain-soaked elite women's time trial at the 2019 UCI Road World Championships in Yorkshire, England, on Tuesday. 

The torrential rain that had earlier caused havoc in the under 23 race, forced a forty-minute delay to the start of the women's 30.3-kilometre race from Ripon to Harrogate.

The twenty-second of 53 riders to set out on the course, Spratt powered across the longest time trial of her professional career in a time of 46mins 09.09secs.

With the second-fastest time of the day to that point, Spratt found herself in the hot seat and it was a nervous wait to see if she could hold on to the medal position. However, nine riders would better her time to the line pushing her to eleventh overall. 

"It was really hard, a challenging course, I think they threw everything at us with the rain, flooding, ups and downs, flats, it had everything to it," said Spratt. "I hadn't started my warm-up, so the delay wasn't too much of a stress for me. And it helped to watch the 23s to see how they took the corners and how the roads were. 

"Obviously the 23s had horrendous weather as we did. It was sketchy out there, you had to take a bit of caution, but at the same time, you still wanted to keep the pace as much as you could." 

The time trial continues the recent expansion of the thirty-two-year-old Spratt's repertoire ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, in addition to the looming home Road World Championships in Wollongong in 2022. 

"It was a challenge my coach Gene Bates set for me a year and a half ago to put more effort into the time trial, and I accepted that challenge," said Spratt, who last raced a time trial at a World Championships as a 17-year-old in 2004. "And I am happy with the way it has progressed. 

"I can't sit here and compare myself with everyone else too much. We had a plan, in terms of power and how I wanted to pace it so in terms of the plan, we have to be happy with that. 

"I gave everything I could out there." 

Spratt also revealed encouragement from her Mitchelton-Scott teammate Annemiek van Vleuten, a two-time time trial world champion, has inspired her in her return to the time trial. 

"She really started focusing on that only three or four years ago, and look where she is now, and I really draw inspiration on that," Spratt said adding. "For me, it is a long term project. I was excited to get here and have my first time trial race and I hope to improve on that."

"I think this is something that you have to put the time and effort into. It doesn't happen overnight and I am willing to put that effort into it."
In one of the most stunning performances ever seen at a Road World Championships, Chloé Dygert Owen (USA) became the youngest person to win a road time trial world title after obliterating the course and her rivals to win by 1 minute and 32 seconds over two-time defending champion Annemiek van Vleuten (NED) and Anna van der Breggen (NED). 

Earlier in utterly treacherous conditions, Liam Magennis (Drapac-Cannondale Holistic Development Team) finished 29th in the under 23 men's time trial at the 2019 UCI Road World Championships in Yorkshire. 

Persistent rain throughout the night and early morning meant the race became a battle not just to the Harrogate finish line, but to stay upright. Riders were forced to negotiate a number of puddles, including one which stretched the width of the road, with many crashing when navigating through the ankle-deep water. 

Reigning Oceania and National champion Magennis delivered a superb effort and remain unscathed across the 30.3km course, clocking a time of 43mins 11.03seconds. 

In what he described as the toughest, and wettest time trial of his career, Magennis later admitted the tricky conditions almost got the better of him. 

"I started off pretty well until I got to the puddles across the road in the first ten kilometres," said Magennis. "They slowed me down and put me on edge a little. 

​

"But I tried my best out there. Kept it upright so I'm happy. 

"I'm happy to be in one piece and look forward to Friday now."  

Magennis will now have a few days to dry out and recover ahead of Friday's Under 23 road race where he will team with Kaden Groves (SEG Racing Academy), Samuel Jenner (Team Wiggins Le Col), Harry Sweeny (EvoPro Racing), Nicholas White (Team BridgeLane)​​.

The event was won by Dane Mikkel Bjerg who powered to an extraordinary third straight rainbow jersey. 

A superb effort from sixteen-year-old debutant Patrick Eddy has seen him place inside the top twenty in the junior (under 19) men’s time trial at the 2019 UCI Road World Championships in Harrogate. 

The 47th of 63 riders to set off down the ramp on Monday, reigning Australian champion Eddy powered over two laps of a 13.7km circuit around the town of Harrogate to sit eighth after completing his ride.

Eddy’s time of 40mins 30.40secs ultimately placed him nineteenth in the world after the remaining sixteen riders had completed their runs over the course. 

“Tough, really tough, pretty long and I was happy to get it done,” said Bendigo’s Eddy. “It was awesome, had a lot of people cheering, it was so cool to be out there wearing the Aussie colours.

“Those last two kilometres I tried switching on the jets as much as I could, you have to give it all.  
“I was happy to be that cooked at the end.”

In stunning scenes, Italian Antonio Tiberi won the event despite suffering a mechanical just moments after leaving the start ramp which forced him to change his bike. The Netherlands’ Enzo Leijnse and German Marco Brenner completed the podium. 

Eddy will now turn his attention to Thursday’s 144.5km junior road race from Richmond in the Yorkshire Dales to Harrogate.

“A couple of easy days and reassess for the road race, it will be a good opportunity. I am really keen.”

Preview for women's, under 23 and junior time trials at the 2019 UCI Road World Championships in Yorkshire. 

WOMEN'S 

• ​Amanda Spratt (Mitchelton-Scott)
• Tuesday 24 September - Start Time 3:21.30pm (12:21.30am AEST)
• Women's Course - 32km - worlds.yorkshire.com/women-elite-individual-time-trial
• Live broadcast via SBS OnDemand / Cycling Central from 2340 AEST 

In 2004, a seventeen-year-old debutant from the Blue Mountains found the podium of the UCI Road World Championships in Italy with bronze in the junior women’s time trial. 

Almost 15 years later to the day, the now 32-year-old Amanda Spratt (Mitchelton-Scott) will have another crack at a World Championship time trial podium when she lines up in the women’s race on Tuesday.

"This will be my first time trial at the World Championships since being a junior in 2004, and I have great memories of that, I got the bronze medal,” said Spratt. "This is one event I get really nervous about, but I think it is a good challenge for me. I think I am ready for it, I wouldn’t have put my hand up for it if I didn’t think it was the right time." 

Spratt will tackle a 32.5km course from Ripon to Harrogate on Tuesday afternoon, with Spratt’s Mitchelton-Scott teammate Annemiek van Vleuten a hot favourite as the two-time reigning world champion.

"I have nothing to lose, I am not putting a number on the result, I just want to have a really good performance and I will be happy with that,” said Spratt who arrived in Yorkshire on Saturday to prepare for the varying course. “The first twelve kilometres is not super interesting, but after that, it gets quite up and down and a bit technical, so it has been good to see it and get a good feel for it.”

Following the time trial, 2018 World Championship silver medallist Spratt will spearhead a superb women’s outfit on Saturday seeking to win Australia’s first ever women’s road world title. Spratt will line up with Tiffany Cromwell (Canyon-SRAM), Lucy Kennedy (Mitchelton-Scott), Lauren Kitchen (FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope), Brodie Chapman (Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank), Chloe Hosking (Ale-Cipollini) and Jessica Allen (Mitchelton-Scott) in the 150km race. 

"I love being back in the green and gold, and being in the Aussie team environment is great, you always feel so supported. And you kind of get that extra buzz when you’re out riding in this kit," Spratt said. "I look forward to when the other Aussie girls get here and we can start looking forward to the road race on Saturday."

 
UNDER 23

• Liam Magennis (Drapac-Cannondale Holistic Development Team) ​
• Tuesday 24 September - Start Time 11.29am (8.29pm AEST)
• Under 23 Course - 32km - worlds.yorkshire.com/men-u23-individual-time-trial/
• Live broadcast via SBS OnDemand / Cycling Central from 1910 AEST

Reigning Australian & Oceania champion Liam Magennis (Drapac-Cannondale Holistic Development Team) will make his Australian team debut in Tuesday’s under 23 time trial. 

"The course is good, it looks fast, pretty flat, a little bit technical, will be interested to see how it rides in the wet,” said Magennis, referring to the wet weather which is forecast for the region. “I am really keen to race."
  
 
JUNIOR 

• Patrick Eddy
• Monday 23 September @ 3.22pm 
• Junior Course - 27.6km - worlds.yorkshire.com/men-junior-individual-time-trial

Debutant Patrick Eddy, the reigning Australian champion, will be the first Australian rider on course when he takes on the 27.6km junior time trial on Monday. 

"I had a pretty nice recon of the course on Saturday," said Eddy. "I was a bit worried about a few of those corners, but I am now more confident with the course. And that is probably going to be one of the main factors in doing well on Monday." 

Australian athletes have started to arrive in Yorkshire ahead of the 2019 UCI Road World Championships to be held 21-29 September 2019. 

In all, twenty-one Australian athletes will feature in eight events in seven days in the time trial and road races in the under 19, under 23 and elite categories.

ABOUT #YORKSHIRE2019

• 🏳️‍🌈 2019 UCI Road World Championships
• 🏢 Yorkshire, England
• 🗓 21-29 September 2019
• 💻 Live broadcast via SBS OnDemand / Cycling Central 
• 💻 Schedule worlds.yorkshire.com
• 🇦🇺 Australian Team australiancyclingteam.com/roadworlds19
• #Yorkshire2019 #AusCyclingTeam

PREVIEW

Challenging time trials will push the world's best to the limit, with the course offering a fast and open start before undulating gradually on the approach to Harrogate.

For the Australian Team, Patrick Eddy (VIC) will line up in the Junior (Under 19) final, Liam Magennis (Drapac-Cannondale Holistic Development Team) in the Under 23, Amanda Spratt (Mitchelton-Scott) in the women's, while reigning champion Rohan Dennis (Bahrain Merida) and Luke Durbridge (Mitchelton-Scott) will contest the men's. 

"The time trials present a very good blend for the Australian Team with athletes at a different point in their approach in the discipline," said Brad McGee, Cycling Australia Technical Director – Road. "Rohan (Dennis) is focused on defending his world title, Amanda (Spratt) has recently expanded her repertoire, while it is pleasing to see Luke (Durbridge) back." 

The punishing road races (U19 148km/U23 192km/Men's 280km/Women's 150km) will feature climbs through the Yorkshire Dales before culminating with laps of a tough and technical Harrogate circuit.

The Under 23 team features Kaden Groves (SEG Racing Academy), Samuel Jenner (Team Wiggins Le Col), Liam Magennis (Drapac-Cannondale Holistic Development Team), Harry Sweeney (EvoPro Racing), Nicholas White (Team BridgeLane)​​.

Amanda Spratt (Mitchelton-Scott), the 2018 world championship silver medallist, will team with 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). 

The men's team is highlighted by 2015 world championship silver medallist Michael Matthews (Team Sunweb), Simon Clarke (EF Education First), Rohan Dennis (Bahrain Merida), Mitchell Docker (EF Education First), Luke Durbridge (Mitchelton-Scott), Nathan Haas (Team Katusha Alpecin), Jack Haig (Mitchelton-Scott) and Rory Sutherland (UAE-Team Emirates). 

"The commitment to the green and gold jersey from the riders, and their willingness to deliver on their appointed roles has been tremendous," said McGee. "Our key leaders appointed across all teams have the aspirations and ability to medal, and in order to achieve this, we have selected our best-supporting athletes. 

"The key now is how those athletes combine and play out the strategy on a very tough course and potentially tough conditions."

Following the late withdrawal of Grace Brown (Mitchelton-Scott) and Sarah Roy (Mitchelton-Scott) due to injury and illness, an Australian Team will not line up in the Teams Time Trial event. 

"Of course, it is disappointing for Australia and the riders, that we won't be lining up in the teams time trial," McGee said. "But when faced with the reality of losing two key riders to injuries on the eve of the Championships, we needed to keep the focus on the main objectives of the individual time trial and road races." 

TEAM AUSTRALIA SCHEDULE 

Monday 23 September - Men Junior Individual Time Trial - from 10pm AEST

• Patrick Eddy (VIC) 

Tuesday 24 September - Men U23 Individual Time Trial - from 7pm AEST 

• Liam Magennis (Drapac-Cannondale Holistic Development Team) 

Tuesday 24 September - Women Elite Individual Time Trial - from 11.40pm AEST

• Amanda Spratt (Mitchelton-Scott) 

Wednesday 25 September - Men Elite Individual Time Trial - From 10.10pm AEST

• Rohan Dennis (Bahrain Merida) & Luke Durbridge (Mitchelton-Scott) 

Thursday 26 September - Men Junior Road Race  - From 9.10pm AEST

• Patrick Eddy (VIC)

Friday 27 September - Men U23 Road Race - From 11.10pm AEST

• Kaden Groves (SEG Racing Academy)
• Samuel Jenner (Team Wiggins Le Col)
• Liam Magennis (Drapac-Cannondale Holistic Development Team)
• Harry Sweeney (EvoPro Racing)
• Nicholas White (Team BridgeLane)​​

Saturday 28 September - Women Elite Road Race - From 8.40pm AEST

• Brodie Chapman (Tibco–Silicon Valley Bank)
• Tiffany Cromwell (Canyon–SRAM)
• Lucy Kennedy (Mitchelton-Scott)
• Lauren Kitchen (FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope)
• Amanda Spratt (Mitchelton-Scott)
• Chloe Hosking (Ale-Cipollini)*
• Jessica Allen (Mitchelton-Scott)*

Sunday 29 September - Men Elite Road Race - From 5.40pm AEST

• Simon Clarke (EF Education First)
• Rohan Dennis (Bahrain Merida)
• Mitchell Docker (EF Education First)
• Luke Durbridge (Mitchelton-Scott)
• Nathan Haas (Team Katusha Alpecin)
• Jack Haig (Mitchelton-Scott)
• Michael Matthews (Team Sunweb)
• Rory Sutherland (UAE-Team Emirates) 

FOLLOW

• web @ australiancyclingteam.com  |  facebook @AustralianCyclingTeam  
• instagram @australiancyclingteam  |  @AusCyclingTeam ​

Less than five years ago, Brodie Chapman (Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank) paid the bills as a bike courier for nine hours a day and her holidays included bike-packing around Japan. Fast forward to 2019 and bikes are still all of Chapman's world as one of the leading riders on one of the toughest international sporting circuits.

Chapman first turned heads in 2018 when she soared to the overall victory at the Women's Herald Sun Tour. Continuing her brilliant form in 2019, Chapman claimed the overall victory plus two stage wins in the Tour of the Gila.

"Enjoying cycling creates good form," remarked Chapman. "Of course, I feel strong and capable and I always train with racing in mind. I don't get driven by meticulous training programs or power PB's as much as I do by the thought that this session might help get a teammate or myself to the podium at the end of the race," Chapman said. 

A latecomer to the sport, Chapman revealed she has learned on the job by absorbing as much knowledge and skill from her teammates and rivals. 

"I observe other riders who I aspire to, I follow them in the peloton and try and mimic how they move, especially some of the other more experienced Australian riders because I have followed their progression and subconsciously trust them a lot," she said. 

"I am constantly working on how to improve my approach to racing, I am totally consumed by the task at hand and I do what needs to be done in the moment and I make that my prerogative. 

"I have worked very hard to get a grasp of road racing, constantly putting myself in situations where I feel scared and uncomfortable and knowing this is exactly what is necessary to improve. There is no sidestepping it."

  
Along with her amazing talent and athletic ability, it is her love of racing that has really made Chapman one of the strongest riders in Australia and it is the progression and thrill of the sport that has propelled her to the top. 

"I love road racing because of the constant progression, I don't envision this special moment where I have totally 'nailed it' or 'made it' because I feel my entire career will just be showing up and giving it a go with some occasional trips to the top step of the podium. 

"I truly enjoy the thrill of racing so I will keep seeking that."

Chapman will form a strong Australian women's team that will take on the world in Yorkshire at the 2019 UCI Road World Championships on Saturday 28 September.  Chapman will line up with Tiffany Cromwell (Canyon-SRAM), Lucy Kennedy (Mitchelton-Scott), Lauren Kitchen (FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope), Amanda Spratt (Mitchelton-Scott), Chloe Hosking (Ale-Cipollini) and Jessica Allen (Mitchelton-Scott). 

"I have expressed over and over to anyone who will listen that I am incredibly inspired and motivated by the professionalism and drive of the Australian Team," Chapman said. "In my experience last year, and in the lead up to Yorkshire, the entire team is 100% committed to a team objective and more or less have clear goals for themselves to be a crucial part of the strategy towards the rainbow stripes.
 
"I think it's obvious we have a great team leader in Amanda Spratt, with her consistent form, her years of experience as both a lead and a support rider, not to mention a silver at the worlds last year! 

"I think we have a really diverse team in terms of strength and experience, so it should all come together nicely."

The Elite Women's Road Race is LIVE from 2040 AEST-0115 AEST on SBS OnDemand and Cycling Central website. 

SBS OnDemand and Cycling Central will bring the 2019 Road Worlds from Yorkshire into the homes of Australians all week! 

SCHEDULE 

Tuesday 24 September 2019

​Men's U23 Time Trial LIVE
1910 AEST - 2155 AEST
Streaming to SBS OnDemand and Cycling Central website

• Liam Magennis (Drapac-Cannondale Holistic Development Team)

Tuesday 24 September 2019

Women's Elite Time Trial LIVE
2340 AEST - 0215 AEST
Streaming to SBS OnDemand and Cycling Central website

• Amanda Spratt (Mitchelton-Scott)

Wednesday 25 September 2019

Men's Elite Time Trial LIVE
2210 AEST - 0115 AEST
Streaming to SBS OnDemand and Cycling Central website

• Rohan Dennis (Bahrain Merida)
• Luke Durbridge (Mitchelton-Scott)

​
Friday 27 September 2019

Men's U23 Road Race LIVE
2310 AEST - 0425 AEST
Streaming to SBS OnDemand and Cycling Central website

Team Australia 

• Kaden Groves (SEG Racing Academy)
• Samuel Jenner (Team Wiggins Le Col)
• Liam Magennis (Drapac-Cannondale Holistic Development Team)
• Harry Sweeny (EvoPro Racing)
• Nicholas White (Team BridgeLane)​​

Saturday 28 September

Elite Women's Road Race LIVE
2040 AEST – 0115 AEST
SBS OnDemand and Cycling Central website before SBS Viceland at 2245 AEST

Team Australia

• Brodie Chapman (Tibco–Silicon Valley Bank)
• Tiffany Cromwell (Canyon–SRAM)
• Lucy Kennedy (Mitchelton-Scott)
• Lauren Kitchen (FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope)
• Amanda Spratt (Mitchelton-Scott)
• Chloe Hosking (Ale-Cipollini)*
• Jessica Allen (Mitchelton-Scott)

​
Sunday 29 September

Men's Road Race LIVE
1740 AEST – 0115 AEST
SBS OnDemand and Cycling Central website before SBS Viceland at 2255 AEST

Team Australia

• Simon Clarke (EF Education First)
• Rohan Dennis (Bahrain Merida)
• Mitchell Docker (EF Education First)
• Luke Durbridge (Mitchelton-Scott)
• Nathan Haas (Team Katusha Alpecin)
• Jack Haig (Mitchelton-Scott)
• Michael Matthews (Team Sunweb)
• Rory Sutherland (UAE-Team Emirates)

Injury and illness have forced Grace Brown (Mitchelton-Scott) and Sarah Roy (Mitchelton-Scott) out of the Australian team for the 2019 UCI Road World Championships which will be held in Yorkshire, 22-29 September 2019. 

Their positions are to be filled by 2018 Commonwealth Games gold medalist Chloe Hosking (Ale-Cipollini) and former junior world champion Jessica Allen (Mitchelton-Scott). 

Twenty athletes will represent Australia at the 2019 UCI Road World Championships including 2015 world championship silver medallist Michael Matthews (Team Sunweb), reigning time trial world champion Rohan Dennis (Bahrain Merida) and Amanda Spratt (Mitchelton-Scott), who claimed road race silver in 2018. 

The 2019 UCI Road World Championships features eleven races over eight days in the junior (U19), under 23 and elite categories.  

The road races promise to push the world’s best to the limit with a punishing 285km contest for the men and 150km for the women, with both races to culminate with laps of a technical circuit around Harrogate. 

2019 AUSTRALIAN TEAM 

*Added September 9

WOMEN

• Brodie Chapman (Tibco–Silicon Valley Bank)
• Tiffany Cromwell (Canyon–SRAM)
• Lucy Kennedy (Mitchelton-Scott)
• Lauren Kitchen (FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope)
• Amanda Spratt (Mitchelton-Scott)
• Chloe Hosking (Ale-Cipollini)*
• Jessica Allen (Mitchelton-Scott)*

U23 MEN

• Kaden Groves (SEG Racing Academy)
• Samuel Jenner (Team Wiggins Le Col)
• Liam Magennis (Drapac-Cannondale Holistic Development Team)
• Harry Sweeney (EvoPro Racing)
• Nicholas White (Team BridgeLane)​​

MEN

• Simon Clarke (EF Education First)
• Rohan Dennis (Bahrain Merida)
• Mitchell Docker (EF Education First)
• Luke Durbridge (Mitchelton-Scott)
• Nathan Haas (Team Katusha Alpecin)
• Jack Haig (Mitchelton-Scott)
• Michael Matthews (Team Sunweb)
• Rory Sutherland (UAE-Team Emirates)

​U19 

• Patrick Eddy (VIC)

“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.” ​

Lucy Kennedy took victory in the inaugural women’s edition of the Clásica San Sebastián, attacking twice after a puncture neutered her first attack.  The Queenslander finished 20 seconds ahead of Janneke Ensing (WNT-Rotor Pro Cycling) in second and Pauliena Rooijakkers (CCC-Liv) in third.

Kennedy's team-mates Annemiek van Vleuten and Amanda Spratt finished nearly five minutes down, in 16th and 18th place respectively.

With 35km to go a chase group were 15 seconds behind when Kennedy punctured, dragging her back as Ensing surged forward and opened up a gap of more than a minute with 20km to go.

Team-mate Georgia Williams joined Kennedy in the chase group, the New Zealander working hard to bring the gap back to within 30 seconds.

Kennedy then reeled in and passed Ensing on the final climb of the day, which reached gradients of 16 per cent, pulling clear with 8km to go and maintaining her advantage to cross the finish line first.

Results - Clásica San Sebastián 2019

​1. Lucy Kennedy (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott, in 3-38-04
2. Janneke Ensing (Ned) WNT-Rotor, at 23 seconds
3. Pauliena Rooijakkers (Ned) CCC-Liv, at 1-04
4. Anastasiia Pliaskina (Rus) Cogeas-Mettler, at same time
5. Edwige Pittel (Fra) Cogeas-Mettler, at 1-06
6. Lourdes Oyarbide (Esp) Movistar, at 1-12
7. Ahreum Na (Kor) Alé Cipollini, at 1-38
8. Kathrin Hammes (Ger) WNT-Rotor
9. Hanna Nilsson (Swe) BTC City Ljubljana, both at same time
10. Alessia Vigilia (Ita) Valcar Cylance, at 2-04

The Australian women's road development team has launched its 2019 winter road racing program in Belgium.

Four National Road Series (NRS) riders in Sarah Gigante (Roxsolt Attaquer), Josie Talbot (Roxsolt Attaquer), Ruby Roseman-Gannon (St LukesHealth TIS Racing Team) and Anya Louw (St LukesHealth TIS Racing Team) have joined Australian Cycling Team Podium Potential Academy members Maeve Plouffe (SA), Alexandra Martin-Wallace (QLD), Samantha de Riter (VIC) and Sophie Edwards (SA) for the trip. 

The riders opened their season on July 14 with two Belgian kermesses, with the outfit set to be tested at the Bene Tour (UCI 2.1) from July 18-21. 

Unfortunately, Plouffe will return to Australia after breaking her ulna and radius in a race crash in the opening weekend.

The program follows a successful partnership between CA and NRS teams in the 2019 Summer of Cycling which saw riders contesting the Santos Women's Tour Down Under, Deakin University Women's Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race and Lexus of Blackburn Women's Herald Sun Tour.

Launched by Cycling Australia in November 2018, the Podium Potential Academy focuses on long term athlete development with the current cohort aiming for success at the 2024 Olympic Games and beyond.

Schedule

• Jul 14 GP Sofie Goos Borgerhout 1.15A
• Jul 17 Arendonk 1.15A
• Jul 18 to 21 Bene Tour UCI 2.1
• Jul 19 Vrasene 1.15A
• Jul 23 Zottegem-Strijpen 1.15A
• Jul 26 Bambrugge-Erpe Mere 1.15A
• Jul 27 St Maria-Lierde 1.15A
• Jul 29 Boezinge WE UCI Crit
• Jul 30 Kapellen 1.15
• Jul 31 Antwerpen WE UCI Crit
• Aug 1 Herentals Fietst WE UCI Crit
• Aug 3 Erondeg Pijl (Erpe Mere) UCI 1.2

The country’s best and brightest gathered at the Australian Cycling Team 'Women in Performance Track Cycling' Breakfast to discuss the challenges and opportunities within one of the most competitive sports in the country.

Held in conjunction with the recent Track National Championships in Brisbane, the breakfast was organised by Podium Potential Academy Sprint Coach Lynne Munro and hosted by National Manager of Communications Amy McCann.

The panel featured three generations of track cycling royalty including dual Olympic champion Anna Meares, four-time world champion Kaarle McCulloch and Australia’s first female Olympic sprint medallist Michelle Ferris.

Also attending the breakfast was a number of Australia's reigning world champion athletes in Amy Cure, Ashlee Ankudinoff, Alex Manly and Georgia Baker, Para-cycling Pilot Madison Janssen, UCI Commissaire Karen O’Callaghan, Cycling Australia director Linda Evans, plus a host of staff, sports scientists, state and institute coaches.

“A year and a half ago when I first came into the Australian cycling team, especially taking up a coaching position, I looked around and didn't see very many other women around,” explained Munro. “And because I knew the story that had gotten me there had its challenges, I wanted to make use of my position to leverage some change and accelerate the process.

“It is very easy for us now to think we are doing pretty good without actually reflecting on how we got there. We need to allow that knowledge and legacy of those that came before us to influence how we can shape the future.”

After spending time away from the sport following her retirements in the early 2000s, Australia’s first female Olympic medallist in track sprinting Michelle Ferris is excited to be back and a part of the discussions. 

“I think it is time we get together as a group of female athletes and help support each other, I am not sure what the next step is but that is the challenge to all of us, past and present riders to keep momentum in cycling,” said Ferris, a dual Olympic medallist (1996/2000) and seven-time World Championship medalist.

“Getting more people involved at a support crew level, staff, commissaries, coaches, everything and if we work together, we have more chance of making a difference for women in sport.” 

Four-time world champion and 2012 Olympic medallist Kaarle McCulloch took time out of her Nationals campaign to present a number of concepts and ideas to the attendees. 

“Two of the key things I wanted to get across was the importance of environment, and how to cultivate a positive environment,” said McCulloch. “But also how do we keep girls in the sport. 

“I have realised there is a whole multitude of things that we can do to get girls involved in the sport and more people in the cycling fraternity.  And that comes down to creating better support systems for coaches and for when we find talent, where do they go and how can they thrive.”

For more information about how to get involved in cycling, please contact Cycling Australia.