For Gracie Elvin, the Tour of Flanders and Commonwealth Games in April remain the primary targets of the early-season. Second place, then, at the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race on Saturday was disappointingly close to a major win on home soil but a result kept in perspective of her April ambitions.
“I am really pleased, to be honest, because I try not to target the Aussie races even though they are really big and important, because for me personally, I find it really hard to keep that form going into the spring classics and I am really targeting those races this year,” said Elvin, who has twice won the national title in the first week of January.
"Especially Flanders where I got second last year, and then this year we have a big race in that period with the Commonwealth Games. I have been trying really hard to track my training to get me to that peak level for then and not for now."
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With Mitchelton-Scott riding for defending champion Annemiek van Vleuten at Cadel’s race, 'plan A' was in play until the final kilometres when the world time trial champion's three-rider escape group was reeled in to set up a bunch sprint.
Despite doing no "speed work" during her off-season training, Elvin took over the reins for Mitchelton-Scott in the finale and was able to out-kick dual world champion Giorgia Bronzini but couldn't match the finishing prowess of Chloe Hosking.
"She is in super good form and was going to be hard to beat in that situation. The only way we could have done it was not let her come back after Challambra but she is in really good shape and powered over the top of the climb," Elvin said of the climb added to the parcours for 2018.
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
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