For Tiff Comwell, the ambition for the 2016 season is clear. Earn selection for the Rio Olympic Games with a good start to the season at the Australian national championships and the Classics before turning her attention to the tough road race circuit that finishes on the iconic Copacabana beach front.
27-year-old Cromwell was on the long list for the 2012 London Olympic road race team after a late but unsuccessful push for selection. Having come close, Cromwell explained to Cyclingnews from that moment on she was focused on making the Rio team regardless of the parcours.
"As soon as I knew I didn’t make London, I was like ‘Rio is a big target’ and it's been a four year build. Just getting better as rider and learning about myself as a rider, experiment about myself and making sure I get everything right," Cromwell said. "When it came to London, I came in a bit later having a pretty bad 2011 season and then starting 2012 really well. This time I’ve been right among the mix of the riders they are looking at. Going there [Cromwell visited Brazil earlier this year] and seeing it gave me a lot of excitement and a huge amount of motivation to be in my best shape for that course."
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Last year Cromwell was voted the Australian female cyclist of the year with fifth at the 2014 Worlds a season highlight. The 2015 season in comparison was one that Cromwell describes as "interesting".
"I’d say I was consistent but I wasn’t satisfied," she expanded. "I was always there, I was always around the mark. From a team point of view we were really successful. Obviously we had a lot of victories and I was a part of that, but for me personally I didn’t quite get the results I was hoping for. I was hoping for a few more podiums or individual victories but then there are other areas like becoming more consistent and having some stronger results like a podium at the Giro. That was nice and it's trying to find that extra bit which takes me from a top-ten rider to top-three, top-five riders."
Cromwell faced a stressful end to the 2015 season with the announcement her Velocio-SRAM team would be pulling up stumps as years end. In the weeks that followed, sport director Ronny Lauke announced he would be launching a new team next year with Canyon Bicycles as the title sponsor, retaining several riders from Velocio-SRAM including Cromwell.
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