My first Euro season...

(Written in August)

As the junior world cycling championships loom ever closer my mind races back to the 20th of July last year when I took to the start line of my first major international race, the U19 women’s world road race championship in Cape Town, South Africa. I placed 37th, a bitter disappointment after two years of sacrifice and preparation.

The year since these championships has truly been a rollercoaster ride. If I had been asked when I crossed the finish line in my first, and hopefully not last, World Championships where I hoped to be in 12months time I would never have thought it possible to be where I am now. It’s been a year of contrasts, the past 12 months have left me a little shocked and still struggling to comprehend what I have achieved.

I made the decision after the World Championships to put my bike to the side and focus on completing my year 12 studies. Three months later I graduated with top marks, no fitness and a mass of cobwebs covering my bike.

What was to follow was a long and gruelling process of attempting to get back to where I had been in July. It was by no means an easy process. As my coach so wisely said to me one of the many times I whined about my general lack of fitness, how much the bike clearly hated me, and what was the point of all this: it takes no time lose it, and twice as long to get it back.

After numerous races where I struggled to finish, if I finished at all, I began to find my legs at the Bay Criterium Series held every year in Geelong during the first week of January. My participation in this event was even in doubt as people were reluctant to put me in a team after my lacklustre performances in the months leading up to the series. Nevertheless, I finished third overall behind current Australian Criterium Champion, Kirsty Broun and World Omnium Champion, Josie Tomic.

However, the National road race Championships held the following week reinforced that I still had a long way to go, I only completed 5 of the 10 laps.

As I watched Lauren Kitchen, a fellow team mate who raced the Junior World Championship with me, jet off to the Middle East to compete in the Women’s Professional Tour of Qatar with the Australian National team I was left to ponder my future.

I made the decision that 2009 would be the year to make or break me as a cyclist. I would train harder, longer and with more intensity than ever before - and then I would go to Europe.

Europe is the Mecca of the cycling world. Cyclists from around the world take the pilgrimage there to race in the hope of being noticed by the elusive and illustrious professional teams. I found a small Dutch club team with a stellar race programme that would have me, and I booked my flights.

What was to follow was a flurry of results that launched my name onto the international cycling arena. Wins in top ranking UCI races in New Zealand and China propelled me into the top fifty female cyclists in the world overall, and in the top five for 2009. I was less than 5 months into my first season as a senior rider and I was already making a name for myself.

My first two races in Europe were big. Cervelo, Columbia, Flexpoint, Lotto-Belisol, DSB Bank. Wild, Gilmore, Vos. Just some of the teams and big name riders that call the European peloton home were all there. They fuelled the fire that I had lit in January when I decided this year was the year.

I finished 6th and 4th in my first two UCI European races. I’d left people asking, who the hell is this Chloe Hosking girl? Literally. Dutch cycling websites set up forums titled Who is Chloe Hosking and where did she come from?

I’m Chloe Hosking; 18, short, stocky, fiery and from Australia. And I just made a splash.

Numerous professional teams approached me, wanting me to sign in July to race the remainder of the season with them. The offers were incredibly tempting. However, under the guidance of my coach, the Australian coach, my parents and Harrie van de Horst, a man who has come to be a mentor to me since I arrived in Europe, I graciously refused the offers. Knowing that I still had a lot to learn before cycling became my job, rather than just a hobby and hoping that other offers, bigger offers, would come along.

Six European podiums and 12 months since I crossed the finished line in Cape Town and everything has changed.

In December of 2008 I couldn’t finish the New South Wales Criterium Championship, and was lapped in a local Criterium in Wangaratta. Now, I finish on the podium with world class riders, in world class races.

On paper I am one of the most successful riders of the 2009 season. My world ranking rose from nothing to 79th in March, and then from 79th to the top fifty in April. Currently I am ranked 17th, the second Australian, behind Rochelle Gilmore and the only 18 year old in the top 100.

In August I was added as a trainee to the roster of the number one women’s team in the world, Team Columbia-HTC and will race the Giro della Toscana in September as a Stagiaire for them. A little over 8 months ago I couldn’t find a team to race for at the Bay Criterium Series.

In December of 2008 Oenone Wood said to me that ‘the door is well and truly open’ for women’s cycling in Australia. I listened, I wanted to take advantage of that opening.

In the year since I crossed the finish line in 37th place at the Junior World Championships a lot has happened. The year has been full of unbelievable surprises and unexpected twists and turns. I’ve come further than I ever could have imagined, and I don’t plan to stop.

The fourth and fifth weeks of the TdeF...

For those of you who believe that when the peloton rolls into Paris after three weeks of grueling racing at the end of July the cycling season is all but over, you would be mistaken. Not only is there the third and final Grand Tour, the tours of Britain, Poland and Ireland and the World Championships in late September still to come but also the Post Tour Criterium series run in the two weeks immediately after the Tour de France.

The series of races generally known as ‘post-tour crits’ held in various cities around Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany provide fans the opportunity to watch and cheer for their heroes while enjoying a party atmosphere more commonly associated with concerts or festivals.

How do criterium’s held in random towns across Western Europe, carrying no UCI ranking and no prestige like that of Paris-Roubaix or Milam San Remo attract the who’s who of the European peloton?

TdeF Jersey and stage winners and big name riders such as Jens Voigt can earn big money just for showing their faces. The appearance money riders can earn is stratospheric and how successful a rider is during the tour dictates how much dough the race organisers are willing to throw at them.

Years ago there were up to 96 ‘post-tour crits’ held around Europe, now there are twelve, and I chose to race one of the biggest, loudest and most atmospheric of them all the Draai van der Kaai in Roosendaal, the Netherlands.

Before the big names take to the line the crowd is given the chance to warm up a bit while watching the junior and women support races. By ‘warming up’ I mean partaking in the various beers, wines and spirits on offer at the innumerable bars scattered around the course.

As Emma and I cruised up to the criterium in her SmartCar we were met by fences barricading off a huge residential area. Entry into the area where the criterium was being held cost 20 euro per person. This in itself shocked me, but what was inside made me gasp! Thousands of people lined the three kilometre circuit, stands erected along the straights of the course and a large stage where the hottest Dutch bands were playing for the crowds made it the most fantastic and unusual atmosphere I have ever ridden in.

21 laps raced against riders such as Marianne Vos (DSB), Chantelle Beltman (Columbia) and Suzanne De Goede (Nurenberger) on the rough, bumpy, red bricked 3 kilometre circuit later, and I had claimed another podium place in a European race. Taking third to Vos and De Goede was a result that I was more than satisfied with.

The cheer from the crowd as Vos crossed the line with her arms outstretched in a victory salute was insane. I don’t think I have ever heard people cheer so loudly for a female sportstar. Vos is cycling’s and the Netherlands golden girl, and for good reason. World Champion in track, road and cyclo-cross disciplines she’s extremely talented and a lovely person. It’s easy to see how she has managed to win the hearts of her fellow country men and women.

The men’s race was won by Mark Cavendish while Contador and Andy Schleck almost got him on the line. It’s not everyday you see general classification riders challenging the fastest man in the world. A bit like professional wrestling really, I want to believe it but ???? Anyway, its good entertainment and rest assured the Women’s racing was fair dinkum!

If you would like more on these Crits visit this link: http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/features/?id=post_tour_crits
An interesting read if you want to know more.

Thank you Italy!

As it turns out my time in Italy and the suffering I endured in both races and training when the gradient of the road tilted upwards has come back to lend a helping hand. The Sparkassen Giro, held in Bochum Germany the past weekend helped prove that all those hours of agony spent off the back of the bunch were actually worth it after I finished third behind Rochelle Gilmore and Suzanne De Goede.

The race, carrying a UCI ranking of 1.1, one classification below a World Cup, was 6 laps of a 14 kilometre circuit. It had two power climbs and a long, fast downhill to the finish line so was raced at an average speed of 37km/hr. With crowds lining the course there was a real party atmosphere surrounding it and I found myself feeding off the crowd’s energy as I powered over the climbs each lap with the front group.

As I stood waiting for presentations I saw riders like Mark Cavendish and Henrich Haussler casually ride past me to the start of their race. I realised that the crazed crowd weren’t hear to see me, rather these athletes who carry superstar status. Nonetheless, it was still pretty amazing to ride infront of what was possibly a hundred thousand people or more.


Donning the Moving Ladies colours for the first time in a little over a month is was great to race with all the girls again. Emma was very aggressive in the race and found herself in a break with two laps to go which had all the major teams in it. Nurenberger, however, were obviously unhappy with the composition of the break as they dragged it back with a little over 15 kilometres to go. And so it was to be a sprint - was I happy? Was I ever!

The long descent into the finish line meant that the speed of the peloton in the final kilometres was around 60km/hr and there was no one team controlling the front of the bunch. The last two kilometres were truly chaotic as all the teams were vying to get their sprinters into the best possible position for the final right hand corner which was only 200 metres from the finish line.

Since arriving in Europe and growing to know and love the European peloton I have learnt many things, one of which is this; if you want to sprint and succeed in Europe you need to have guts, and be willing to take risks.

After a few very close calls and wheel touches while travelling at 65km/hr I arrived at the final right hand corner in fifth wheel, not necessarily the ideal position with only 200 metres to go. It was great to see the Australian team taking a firm hold on the race with Vickie Whitelaw giving the new Australian sprinter, Kirsty Broun, a fantastic leadout as she took her into the final corner in second wheel with Suzanne De Goede, Rochelle Gilmore and I strung out behind her.

As we all exploded out of the corner the noise of the crowd thundered in our ears as banners and flags were waved madly. Rochelle proved too strong, taking out the win narrowly from Suzanne and myself. It was a close and exciting sprint with thousands of people watching on and yelling wildly for no-one in particular.

I was extremely happy with my third in one of Europe’s major races. What was also great was having the three Australian sprinters, Rochelle, Kirsty and I all racing against each other in a quality international field as it really demonstrates the strength of female cycling in Australia.

While no longer riding for the Australian team it was fantastic to see how they took hold of the race, trying to control it. But it was not only the Aussie team that really impressed me; my Moving Ladies team mates were really active throughout the whole race. All the girls seem to be going from strength to strength as the season moves towards its climax, the World Championships in late September.

The Sparkassen Giro is definitely going on my list of races I will do again. With any luck I’ll be back next year and hopefully I’ll be able to improve on third.

Tour de Fra...Okay not quite.

My last race for the year in the Aussie colours was the Tour Féminin en Limousin in rural France. A UCI 2.2 category four day Tour consisting of four slightly undulating road stages. I went into the race excited as always and a little nervous after my last tour experience.

After a rotation of riders the Aussie team once again had a different line up. Under the direction of Martin Barras, the Australian national women’s coach, the Australian team this year has adopted a different approach to previous years. Where in the past 6 or so girls raced for the Australian team for the entire season, now girls are given the opportunity to race two or three races with the team and then others are brought in.

I think it’s a great opportunity for all the girls involved, giving them international racing experience and exposure to the European peloton. It also enables Australia to show off the depth of talent we currently have coming through the sport.

Tiffany Cromwell, Miffy Galloway, Shara Gillow and I all returned from the previous races. We were joined by Ruth Corset, who rides for the American professional team Jazz Apple, and the U19 rider, Kendelle Hodges who was invited to race with the senior team in preparation for the junior World Championships in a little under a week in Moscow.

The depth of the field while not at the same level of the Giro was still respectable with a number of UCI teams taking the start line and over 170 riders. The first stage quickly established the General Classification (GC) for the rest of the tour with 10 girls escaping on the first Queen of the Mountain and staying away for the entirety of the stage.

Ruth, who was the designated GC rider, finished third in the Stage 1, setting herself up well for the rest of the tour. In the remaining stages all the girls worked hard to try and move Ruth up on GC. The 18 second time gap that Grace Verbeke from Lotto-Belisol gained on Stage 1 proved too difficult to close, however Ruth was able to gain enough time bonuses in intermediate sprints to jump over the Russian rider Alexandra Burchenkova and move into second overall, a position she held until the end of the tour.

I was glad to be able to help position Ruth and give her a wheel to follow coming into these sprints so as to give her the best possible opportunity to gain time over the riders sitting only seconds in front of and behind her in general classification.

On our way to second overall the whole team seemed to get a chance to show what they were made of. On the second stage, Shara, chasing attacks to protect Ruth’s general classification place found herself in a break and claimed second in an intermediate sprint. Shara being better known for her hill climbing and not necessarily her sprinting received a text message from the Australian coach ‘Shara, a sprinter?’

Miffy Galloway was forever present at the front of the bunch, jumping on anything that moved. Miffy ensured that Australia was always well represented. She showed that the nervousness she may have once had about big bunches, fast speeds and narrow roads are all but a distant memory.

Kendelle Hodges, at only 17 years old and not even in the senior ranks was the youngest rider in the race. Kendelle while finishing respectably in each stage improved each day and showed she has a huge future in cycling. She had a successful crossover to not only European but also senior racing. On the third day of the tour Kendelle was challenging for the ‘Aussie Cup’ for best positioned throughout the race and found herself covering numerous breaks, no small feat for a girl who isn’t even senior yet.

The ‘Aussie Cup’, while being a complete fabrication by Nico, our charismatic mechanic, was a competition between all Australian riders in the race and could be awarded for anything from most embarrassing crash to best placed.

Tiffany’s convincing Stage 3 win from a breakaway of five and her tireless and selfless effort throughout the entire tour to help her team-mates showed why she is such a valued member of the American professional team Colavita and the Australian team. Her amazing lead out effort for me in Stage 2 where I claimed second was a sight to behold. After having chased for much of the race to protect Ruth’s general classification position, Tiff again made her way to the front to help me in the lead up to the final sprint. With 3ks to go Tiff was on the front driving it to give me the best possible chance in the sprint. A phenomenal rider and an awesome team player, Tiffany is definitely an Australian cyclist to watch.

And me, after claiming a few sprint points in intermediate sprints and finishing second in Stage 2 the team thought I might be able to have a crack at the green (sprinters) jersey. However, Rochelle Gilmore proved too strong and things were quickly reassessed. My role changed to help position Ruth and also attempt to lead her out for the intermediate sprints which carried valuable bonus seconds. Since the riders around her on GC were 3 seconds ahead, and 1 second behind and Ruth was able to gain more than the 3 seconds needed to move herself into second overall through bonus seconds and small gaps at the finish I’d like to think I did my job well.

The whole tour was incredibly enjoyable, from the people I shared it with, (the Aussie girls and staff, parents and sister), to the success of the team it was a great way to finish off my stint in the green and gold. I can only hope that there are many more opportunities for me to pull those stripes over my shoulders and race with these girls, some of the most talented athletes Australia has to offer.

For now, I’m back to Belgium to race for the Moving Ladies team. It was sad to say goodbye to the girls (who have been good company and excellent training partners for the last month) and my family (who were some of the best groupies one can hope for while on tour) but I’m looking forward to some more Dutch racing and trading the gelati for stroopwafles.

'Flat, like pizza flat'

My legs found themselves back where they belong this past Saturday, on the flat and in the wind. Strangely enough this wasn’t in the land of windmills and wooden shoes, rather, still in the country where clothing, speed limits and indicators are all optional.

The Cento Carnival UCI 1.2 category race was my second race with the Australian team during my month long stint in Italy, and as alluded to was probably the flattest race Italy has ever seen. After my demoralising and draining experience of the Giro I was left singing ‘Hallelujah’.

I was obviously excited to finally do a flat race after what seemed like an eternity since my last Dutch race. I was also excited because I was being given the opportunity to race with and ride for one of the best female road sprinters in the world, Rochelle Gilmore.

Emma Mackie and Rochelle who both ride for the women’s UCI team Lotto-Belisol Ladies joined Tiffany Cromwell, Miffy Galloway, Shara Gillow and I in the race.

Quite often professional riders will ride as guest riders in their national teams when their UCI team is not doing a race. It serves as a great opportunity for girls like myself and Miffy, (who are eager to learn as much as possible about the European peloton, teams and racing) to pick their brains and race with some of the best riders racing, truly an invaluable experience.

Three laps into the eleven lap, 110 km race Emma found herself in a break of 6 riders. With most of the bigger teams represented the break quickly gained an advantage of over 2 minutes. But the Olympic and World Champion, Nicole Cook and her team (Vision1) along with the Italian team Selle Italia Menikini didn’t see the race playing out that way and the break was slowly dragged back with under 10 km to go.

The last 10 km of the race were possibly the fastest I have ever ridden. Safi, the Italian team of Georgia Bronzini, the current world point score champion and one of the world’s best female road sprinters, were clearly on a mission as they controlled the front of the peloton driving the pace.

As I had been given the job of leading out Rochelle I tried to slot myself into the Safi train, knowing that on my own I couldn’t possibly maintain the speed that the Safi train was travelling at for more than a couple of hundred meters.

Sitting fourth wheel with a little over one km to go I was optimistically thinking, I might actually get the lead out right! Unfortunately on the final right hand corner coming into the line I was sandwiched between two Safi riders and with nowhere for me to go but backwards Rochelle was forced to accelerate past me coming out of the corner and I was left to watch the sprint unfold in front of me.

Rochelle finished second behind Bronzini, the team was happy with that result but I was left thinking if only I could have done more for her and the team. My lead out skills aren’t quite up to the standard of Mark Renshaw just yet, but practice makes perfect right? Hopefully I’ll get the chance to lead out Rochelle or another top sprinter in the near future. For now maybe I should give Mark a ring and see if he’s giving any classes?

Now for the women's Giro...

After being in Europe a little under a week I was asked, what races in Europe, if given the opportunity, would I most like to race? I answered, the Women’s Giro of course, and some of the world cups. I thought it was a possibility that I would one day get to race the Giro, at least when I had been in Europe for more than three months. I said to myself, in two or three years maybe I’ll get that opportunity.

Just a few months after being asked that question I found myself donning the Australian colours for the second time and taking the start line of one of the biggest races on the women’s racing calendar. Seven other fellow Australian female cyclists also pulled those green and gold stripes over their shoulders and took to the start line of the Giro Donne or the Women's Tour of Italy. Two of these girls, Lauren Kitchen and Miffy Galloway had progressed with me through the junior ranks and it was great to share the experience with both girls.

Amber Halliday (current Amy Gillett scholarship holder and a team mate in China), Carlee Taylor (current AIS scholarship holder and former Amy Gillett scholarship holder), Belinda Goss (current AIS scholarship holder and medalist at this years Track World Championships), Shara Gillow (Queensland Academy of Sport scholarship holder) and Tiffany Cromwell (current AIS scholarship holder and member of the American professional team, Colivata) made up the remainder of the Australian team.

With an average age of 21, the squad was one of the youngest and most inexperienced teams competing in this years Giro which was to be a ten day tour, with one 2.5 kilometre prologue, one 13 kilometre time trial and eight road stages. The majority of the road stages were unfortunately plagued with 10 kilometre burgs to suit the Italian favourite and last years winner, Fabianna Luperini.

Despite having been advised that the blogging of my Giro exploits should be limited to ‘I refuse to acknowledge the Giro’ and ‘Moving on from my Giro experience…’ I will try and provide you with a bit more insight into what it is like to race one of the hardest, and longest professional Women’s stage races on the calendar.

Far removed from the mass of media, fenced off areas, VIP sections, crazed fans and podium girls of the men’s Giro d’Italia, the women's Giro d'Italia instead has a surprisingly casual atmosphere surrounding it. This was especially surprising for a race in Italy, where passion and drama come second only to tans.

Friends and family make up the majority of the fans (thanks Mum, Dad and Chelsea) and the fenced off areas amount to a single yellow tent where teams congregate before signing on before each day’s stage, a tent that is far from impregnable. Team vans are parked in fields sans toilettes where bushes became the next best option.

Pasta with tomato paste sauce became our staple diet for the 10 days. Luckily for us our amazing swannie, Beth, has a knack for knowing exactly what cyclists need, practice makes perfect. Tasty sandwiches and a mind-blowing breakfast box, full with fruit bread, fruit, nutella, and scores of cereal helped keep us sane and our stomachs full.

The course for this years Giro was incredibly challenging and definitely something I wasn’t mentally, or physically prepared for. I had raced against many of the world’s top riders, such as Ina-Yoko Tuetenburg, Kirsten Wild and Marianne Vos, but never over 10 days and never over terrain presented by this years Giro.

The 2008 Giro d'Italia Femminile was a similar format to this years, however, the terrain was very different. In 2008 four of the seven road stages finished in mass bunch sprints. In 2009, only two stages were gruppo compacto at the end, even better, only one of them was actually raced by the entire peloton as many assessed the last stage’s course to be too dangerous to race on and chose to effectively neutralise the race.

Belinda Goss and I went into the Giro as the team sprinters, our job on the stages where a sprint was not likely was to look after all the girls by helping them with food, water and positioning. Carlee Taylor and Tiffany Cromwell had been singled out us the teams General Classification riders while Lauren Kitchen, Amber Halliday, Shara Gillow and Miffy Galloway were given the jobs of looking after both Tiff and Carlee to the best of their ability throughout the entire tour.

The 2.5 kilometre prologue was done and dusted for all of us in just over 3 minutes, Tiffany posted an impressive time and went into the first road stage in third position in the Young Rider classification.

Unlike 2008, there was to be no easing into the tour with a few flat stages, rather we were thrown straight onto the mountainous terrain which Italy is so well known for. I quickly found myself for the first, but definitely not the last time, in the ‘Bus’, ‘Laughing group’, or the ‘Grupetto’. This is the group that forms at the back of the bike race, where dropped riders work together to make sure they finish within the time limit for the days stage.

My first real chance to do my job as the team sprinter came on stage 4. The stage, which was a circuit course ridden four times, while not completely flat with a 7 kilometre drag, was one suited to the sprinters. I went into the stage eager to do what I do best, sprint.

Throughout the race I felt strong and positioned myself well. A puncture on the second lap threatened to curtail my race aspirations, but the team was quick to come to my aid with Amber Halliday immediately stopping with me to swap wheels and Lauren Kitchen helping me make my way back to the peloton.

Within 5 kilometres we were all back in the race and the flashbacks to my experience in the third stage of the Tour of Chongming Island were pushed to the back of my mind.

Despite the quick recovery from the puncture it was not to be my stage. A sharp left hand corner on the descent 10 kilometres from the finish proved to be my undoing. Taking the corner too fast my front wheel slipped out from under me and I came crashing down, signalling an abrupt end to my hopes of pulling out a result for the Australia team.

I made my way to the finish with the chasing group, never making contact with the front bunch again. The stage was won convincingly by Ina Tuetenburg.

After a few more visits to the Grupetto I was eventually forced to abandon the tour when I found myself isolated and at the back of the race. This marked the end of my first ever Giro d'Italia Femminile, seven days and 485 kilometres into my first major European tour.

Being pulled from the race was truly devastating, I can now fully sympathise with those riders struggling through this years Tour de France but not quite making it to Paris. Next year, hopefully I’ll be back, stronger and better prepared.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t the last of the Australian girls to find the Giro over before the last stage. Miffy, suffering from chronic back pain didn’t start the 7th stage and Belinda, while starting the 7th stage wasn’t able to finish due to continuing pain in her arm after a crash in the United States a few weeks before.

The rest of the girls continued on with the tour doing Australia proud. Tiff finished third overall in the young rider classification and Amber began to find her feet in the European peloton with some strong finishes towards the end of the tour such as her 13th place in the eighth stage. Lauren, Carlee and Shara continued to work for the team doing their jobs well.

The Giro was, although incredibly hard and emotionally draining, a great experience. It was great to ride again in the Australian colours in such an awesome team. Martin Barras ran a very well organised and professional team which I felt privileged to be a part of. It was great to share the experience with girls like Lauren, Miffy and Carlee, girls who I’ve grown up and competed with for years.

Sprinting with the best

The next month ushers in a full program of racing and training with the Australian National squad. The races will be some of the biggest and hardest I have ridden and I’m itching to race the Giro, Cento and Tour de Limousin.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. The weekend past saw me race the RaboSter "Zeeuwsche Eilanden", a 2.2 UCI category, three day stage race held in Zeeland on the Dutch coast. Consisting of a 7km Prologue, and two typical Dutch road stages, the tour drew an impressive field.

With over two hundred girls and seven UCI teams taking the line, including Columbia, Nurnberger and Lotto-Belisol the races were bound to be hard. The roaring winds of the Netherlands combined with technical courses and enormous bunches ensure this is generally the case.

As always, I went into the three day race eager to get the adrenalin and heart pumping, but this time I was slightly more excited. The quality field included three of the world’s best female sprinters; Ina-Yoko Tuetenberg (Columbia), Suzanne de Goede (Nurnberger), and Rochelle Gilmore (Lotto-Belisol). I was excited to be able to race with them.

If travelling to Europe has changed anything about me at all it would be my desire. Racing week in, week out against the best riders in the world has only intensified my desire to be one of the best in the world. Every time I take the start line in Europe I find myself determined to prove myself. Racing against riders like Teutenberg and de Goede adds that extra incentive to do well.

Never having been known for my time-trialling abilities I finished a disappointing 131st in the opening 7 km Prologue, as much as I could make excuses and say I was at a disadvantage because I didn’t have any of the specialist equipment, the reality is that it was a dismal result and clearly an area I will have to work on in the future.

I went into Stage Two with all General Classification hopes dashed and with nothing to lose and everything to gain. The importance of being at the front was made obvious when the bunch splintered into three groups at around the 50 kilometre mark. The other three members of my team who had taken the start line that morning, Emma Trott, Mirthe Wagenaar and Sarah Cramoysan all found themselves in the chasing bunches. I had positioned myself well throughout the race so was still at the pointy end of the race with 20km to go.

Flexpoint, a Dutch based UCI team who are always very aggressive launched a few attacks but were reeled in by the Columbia team each time. Columbia clearly favoured their chances in a bunch finish, with sprinter Ina-Yoko Tuetenberg, arguably the best female sprinter in the world.

With 10 kilometres to go I found myself fighting for Teutenberg’s wheel. Coming into the last right hand corner with 300 metres to go there was no clear lead out train happening. Riders from Leontien, Lotto-Belisol, Nurnberger, Flexpoint and Columbia were spread across the road.

With about 200metres to go there was a near fall involving two girls, just in front of Teutenberg and I. Ina went one way and I went the other as the sprint for the line opened up. Suzanne de Goede who been in front of excitement crossed the line for a convincing win with Ina-Yoko a few bike lengths behind her. I crossed the line narrowly taking third from Loes Gunnewijk ( Flexpoint).

I was happy with the result and keen to repeat or better the performance in stage three but that was not to be. The third stage of the tour is renowned for its difficulty and often sees only thirty or so of the massive field finish. Going into the stage I had been told by a friend about last years race where only 24 girls had finished, she described the stage as the ‘hardest race of the year’- coming from an experienced racer this was a warning to be heeded.

The course which included two 7 kilometre bridges and a 6 kilometre dike, a form of road which sits above the land dividing the water from the land, to be ridden three times ensured the bunch was constantly spread single file battling the ferocious winds which the province of Zeeland turned on for us.

Coming into the race I thought I knew when to be at the front, admittedly in Dutch races, or any race in Europe really, you should always be at the front but constantly fighting to hold your position takes its toll. Crossing of the two bridges were obvious danger points and I was so focussed on these bridges that I’d neglected to think about the dike just before the finish line.

Coming onto the dike for the first of three times I was poorly positioned and found myself too far back when the pressure went down. The bunch splintered into three groups and I found myself in the third, with all the race favourites in the front bunch I knew where I had to be and so I attacked out of the bunch after the dike trying to close the gap.

With 30 kilometres to go the race came back together but I had expended a lot of energy chasing and wasn’t feeling too crash hot. With about 15 kilometres to go five girls made a break, all of the major teams bar Nurnberger were represented in the break. With no one chasing, the break rode away from the bunch. The placegetters came from this bunch, Nikki Harris a former Moving Ladies teammate, who signed with Flexpoint mid season, took second and I cruised to the line 35seconds behind first place.

It was a great tour and I was pleased to come out with a stage podium finish in a field of such quality. Hopefully I’ll be back next year with a stronger time trial and more experience, I might even have a crack at the young rider classification!

But now I’m back in Italy and have joined up with the Australian team headed by Martin Barras. It has been great to meet up with the all the girls who are racing with me in the Giro, (and to hear the Aussie accent again!). I can’t wait to pull the green and gold jersey over my shoulders and ride as part of an Australian team!

'Second isn't first'- Dutch commentator.

I recently read an article on this year’s Paris-Nice or ‘the race to the sun’. An eight day historic stage race held every year in France during March, and attracting some of the world’s best male stage racers. The article brought to my attention something which has been a common theme in my last few races, “the power of numbers”. However, as disappointing as my last four races have been today’s UCI 1.2 category race held in Exloo, Drenthe was a welcome return to the form I had shown in my first few weeks here.

The Paris-Nice article spoke about how Alberto Contador, arguably the worlds best stage racer, was able to ride himself into the lead of the overall classification, no sooner to lose his yellow jersey as he found himself stranded, outnumbered with no support. Contador finished fourth overall, 1:24 behind Luis Leon Shanchez.

The Dorpenomloop Wijk en Aalburg, held in Marianne Vos’ home town on the 31st of May was a 128km road race consisting of four 30km laps and one smaller 8km lap. Like most Dutch races the course was flat and had sections of narrow, open roads with roaring winds. With Marianne Vos and her DSB team racing their aim was clear, get revenge for last year.

The year before Vos had been outnumbered by Flexpoint riders in the break and was unable to claim victory in her hometown, as soon as the race was underway it was obvious that Marianne and DSB weren’t going to let this happen again.

Forty kilometres into the race we hit a long, open stretch of road with a strong head cross wind. The whole DSB team moved to the front and began driving the pace leaving the bunch scrambling behind them. The bunch splintered to pieces with a group of 15 forming at the front of the race. I was one of these 15 riders, along with 5 DSB riders, 2 Leontien, 2 Flexpoint, 2 Merida, and three other club girls.

This group worked well together gaining a maximum of 5 minutes advantage on the bunch. With just under 30km to go the attacks began to fly. It was hard constantly reacting every time a DSB, Flexpoint and Leontien rider jumped because I knew I had to be there, my elastic band was stretching slowly.

When Marianne Vos attacked and a Flexpoint rider followed her my elastic band finally snapped. My legs blew and although I tried to close the gap the lactic acid in my legs was burning and I was eating handle bar stem trying to hold on to the other seven girls who had survived the constant attacking.

The run into the line was technical with a few sharp corners. With 500metres to go while taking a sharp left hand corner my front wheel was hit and as I looked down at my front wheel getting ready to open up the sprint with 200metres to go I saw the quick release of my front wheel was blowing loosely in the wind, completely undone. I choose not to contest the sprint and crossed the line in 9th.

If there is one thing almost every cyclist has been told it is this; You will lose more bike races than you will win. However, despite this, I still found myself increasingly frustrated with my performances in my past few races having come to expect more from myself.

Today’s 126km Top Competition race serves as a boost to my wavering confidence. With four 3.5 kilometre cobblestoned sections and three full strength UCI teams lining up the race was sure to be challenging. However, I went into the race excited and wanting to show that my performances in my first few UCI races in Europe weren’t a fluke.

The prospect of the cobbled sections left me with mixed feelings. I think it was somewhere between when we were driving over the small, unevenly spaced cobbles with the car rocking around all over the place doing reconnaissance and when Chris said ‘…and the other section is a little more hard’ that my stomach began to churn.

My last race with a cobbled section I had won, but these cobbles were much harsher and there was nowhere to hide. In some sections the cobbles were so overgrown with grass you could have been mistaken for thinking you were riding over a field, however rather than sinking your whole body vibrated violently as your bike complained loudly beneath you. These were the real deal.

Frustratingly, about a metre to the right there was a perfectly paved bike path which some of the guys who were racing after us thought would be fun to ride on and watch us suffer as we tried to control our bike over the unruly stones. Karma paid them back that afternoon when it rained during their race, I’ve been told cobbles and rain doesn’t mix.

Despite these cobbled sections, the race actually broke up with 25 kilometres to go on a technical cornered section. Adrie Visser from DSB attacked and Chantal Blaak from Leontien and Iris Slappendal from Flexpoint quickly jumped across to her, I followed in hot pursuit. Chantal, Iris and I worked well together and gained a gap of 45 seconds on the bunch and 25 seconds on a chasing group of three which we held to the end of the race.

With my legs screaming at me I took second in the sprint behind Chantal gaining 30 more UCI points.

The result was comforting after four races with somewhat lacklustre performances on my behalf. However, as the very blunt commentator pointed out to me in an interview after the race ‘second isn’t first’, I’m still looking for that big win in Europe, and I won’t stop until I get it.

Giro! Giro! Giro!...ouch!

My second week in Tuscany ushered in more mid to high twenty degree days, training rides through beautiful Italian countryside and pro cyclist spotting. Warning, for those of you whose body clocks get switched back eight hours every July to watch Cadel and Lance battle it out for overall honours live at the Tour de France this blog may leave you reeling with jealousy, read on with caution.

For those of you who are sane enough to maintain regular sleeping patterns I apologise for the name dropping which is about to occur.

Friday the 22nd saw stage thirteen of the Giro d’Italia, one of the three major European professional cycling stage races, pass directly through Lucca. As with all Grand Tours, the Giro draws the best male cyclists in the world, massive crowds and casts a cycling frenzy across the country in which it is being held.

Remember that Italian movie you watched a while ago? The one where the male main character knows everyone and everything that is happening? It’s not just in movies. The president of the team I had come to train with is that main character, just without the mafia bit. So, when the girls and I cruised up to the gate dividing the media, people with special passes and girls with very short skirts, very brown skin and very nice hair from the general public, we were ushered through without a second glance. But don’t worry, all this didn’t go down without some Italian man hugs and two handed grasps of the face as seen in the Godfather.

As we walked towards the fenced off area where riders sign on, interviews are conducted and the media congregate I was left thinking, am I about to watch the beginning of the Giro from the VIP section? The answer-Yes.

An hour later I joined the other ‘little’ people as we lined the path where all the riders rode past to sign on for the day’s stage. I’ve never been one to get over excited about seeing celebrities and getting their photos, but I found my inner star crazed teenage girl seeping out as I stood camera aimed, ready to pounce. Pro cyclist after pro cyclist cruised past me, helmet hanging on the handle bars and hair appropriately gelled, I mean you have to look good for a 200km road race right?

Lampre, Liquigas, LPR, Columbia, Cervelo Test Team, Rabobank. Cavendish, Sastre, Basso, Menchov, Di Luca, Armstrong. They were all there. However, despite seeing all these cyclists, who are unquestionably the best riders in the world, it was seeing Cameron Meyer ride past me in his Garmin Slip-Stream team colours that was the best part. Riding his first ever Giro, Cam had been racing in the junior ranks with me only 3 or so years before. Now competing, and holding his own against the best cyclists in the world Cam really is someone all up and coming Australian riders can look at and think, it’s possible.

After run

Afert Running my camera battery dead and filling my memory card we watched as all the riders rode away for their 176km relatively flat road race through Tuscany. We jumped back in the car and sped back to Lucca and were able to watch the peloton once again. This time speeding through the streets of Lucca at an unbelievable pace. Cameron Meyer and his Garmin team were on the front, working for their team sprinter, Tyler Farrar. Cavendish ended up winning the stage, taking out his third stage of the Giro with Tyler finishing in fifth.

Motivated and still buzzing from my first ever Grand Tour experience I headed out on the bike that afternoon for my second training session of the day. The training session was to end with me in an ambulance and my bike in pieces after being hit by a car.

I got to enjoy another sleep-over in a European hospital where communication may be difficult but good health care is provided. After numerous x-rays and scans I was discharged, apart from a fair bit of skin off my face I had emerged from the crash unscathed. When I arrived back at the team house and saw my bike, I realised how lucky I was.

My front Ksyrium wheel was in two pieces, my rear derailleur had snapped off and was hanging limply and my shifters were pointing in unnatural directions. My bike was truly a mess and my head began to spin. The next few days saw a mad frenzy begin as myself and my family tried to source out a bike that I could ride as soon as possible so as to continue with my preparation for all my up coming races.

The immediate response from everyone was fantastic. Two small Canberra company’s, Providence Consulting Group and Jennifer Angelatos Designs kindly offered a helping hand and are now two very valued sponsors of mine. Scott from OnYa Bike and Tim from RideShop and Marcel Bengston, my team manager from China all jumped in to help and all had Andrew, the national sales manager from Merida on the phone. (I felt a little sorry for him having to hear about me and my incident so many times, but at least he now knew who I was!)

On top of all these people, Martin Barras, the Australian National Women’s Road coach, Rene Groot, a friend I met while over here and also the sales and marketing representative for the luxury cycling clothing brand Rapha and Allan Sieper, the manager of Canberra Cycling team Velo Canberra were all seeing what they could do in regards to finding me a bike.

In the end, Merida Australia packaged up a brand new 2009 Merida Scultura Evo Team bike and sent it my way. Both my father and I have been ogling this bike for a long time, I think if I were not 2ft shorter than him I’d have to watch that he didn’t take the bike hostage in October when I return home after my season of racing.

I cannot thank everyone who came to my aid enough. It’s a great feeling when you realise that you’ve got a lot of people who are willing to look after you and help you out, especially when you’re on the other side of the world and have limited options.

The coming weekend sees me return to racing after a two week training block. Hopefully my forced break off the bike has only freshened the legs after my, what was probably futile, attempt to become a mountain climber in Italy.

One again, a massive thankyou to everyone who went to the trouble of helping me out, but especially my Dad, who acted as my link to everything and everyone in Australia and even made an early morning trip to Sydney only hours after hearing about my crash to put my old bike on a plane.

CAUTION: Pro Cyclists Ahead

Imagine a beautiful little Tuscan town, surrounded by massively thick 16th-century brick walls, picturesque landscapes, rolling hills and endless beaches. Imagine roads which wind through medieval and renaissance villages, warm temperatures made bearable by cool sea breezes and all the vibrant colours one associates with Tuscany, Italy. Have I caught your attention? Welcome to Lucca, Italy.

I flew to Pisa, Italy on Thursday of last week and was met at the airport by three Italian men who spoke little to no English. I had been invited to come and experience Italy from a bike rider’s perspective. An opportunity to train and live with a small Italian team based in Lucca for a couple of weeks.

My three weeks in the dead flat terrain of the Netherlands had left me severely confused and as we drove from Pisa to Lucca through and over mountain passes I found myself itching to get out of the car and onto the bike…I wanted to climb some hills! I was later to find out that ‘hills’ do not exist in this beautiful part of the world, only 10km mountains.

My first full day in Italy saw me attempt to navigate myself around Lucca and its surrounds while trying to fit in my training session. One trip down the wrong way of a motorway, a visit to the police station and a $30 taxi fair later I was finally back at the team house, only 2 hours later than expected. I thought it wise the next day to do my entire session with the other girls in the house.

The surrounds of Lucca are this year not only playing host to a stage of the men’s Giro d’Italia but also the Women’s. After having only learnt a few days ago that I would be riding with the Australian team for the Women’s Giro I thought it the perfect opportunity to do a reconnaissance of the courses which I would soon be racing over.

Foolishly, I asked the girls to show me the major climbs of the hardest stage of the Giro, they willingly agreed. I quickly found myself and my trusty Merida on a 9 percent gradient climb which lasted for 2km, only to be broken up by 5km at 6 percent and then to kick back up to 8 percent for the last 2kms. (Okay, I’m guessing the gradients, but it felt like that). The climb wound up and through a beautiful Tuscan village which no words could do justice. However, as a sprinter, while it was lovely, the thought of riding it again when the best cyclists in the world are driving the pace and I’ve ridden 140km everyday for the last 5 days does leave me with mixed feelings. Even worse, I later found out that that climb was the ‘warm up’ climb for one of the stages, and was followed by another 10km climb which the girls described as ‘harder’.

The next day all the team lined up along with another of Lucca’s best twelve hundred cyclists to participate in a mass start race. Despite the girl’s best efforts to use my lack of Italian as an excuse to get to the front of the massive peloton we managed to be no better positioned than 250th wheel as the gun was fired. While positioning was not such an issue as it was a mass participation event rather than a race, it is always daunting to find yourself in a bunch surrounded by too much testosterone, a foreign language and below par bike skills. Luckily I got through the race without incident and was able to see some more of the beautiful landscapes which Tuscany has to offer.

Every cyclist, in fact everyone who has anything to do with cycling- whether it be a parent, partner or a friend of a cyclist- knows the risks and dangers cyclists face as soon as they swing their leg over the bike and head out on the road. Generally these risks are limited to cars, the cyclists themselves and the people they are riding with.

In Lucca, probably in Europe generally, this list can be expanded to include the risk a young female cyclist faces when encountering Lampre and Liquigas riders, or any pro cyclist for this matter. While at the best of times it is dangerous to get distracted by shiny, attractive things (pro cyclists for women, new cars for men) and lose concentration on what you’re doing, it is extremely dangerous while descending at 70km/hr on a descent which has its fair share of switchback corners. Something I’ll have to remember in the future.

Next week will see me continue to train up a storm, soak up the sunlight and explore all that Tuscany has to offer. I’ll be standing on the roadside cheering on Mick Rogers and all the other Australians racing this years Giro as the best male riders in the world fly past my eyes.

Stay tuned for my flash interviews with Cavendish and Di Luca. Who knows, maybe Mick will get me into the Columbia team bus?

Crash, Win...is a pattern emerging?

The weekend just past saw another two typical Dutch races come and go. Fast pace, aggressive, technical courses and flat. The races are addictive and I look forward to the next one even more eagerly than the last. The Omloop Middag Humsterland held on Saturday in the village of Aduard was a UCI 1.2 ranked event and the Omloop der Kempen held in Veldhoven, Noord Barbant on Sunday was a big race however it doesn’t carry a UCI ranking. The weekend was almost a mirror image to last weekend, but similar to when Karen puts her ‘K’ on the right way in the mirror in Mean Girls, in real life it was reversed.

Nicki Harris, Emma Trott, MirtheWagenaar, Linda Ringlever, Trix Mulder, Ellen Hermens and I made up the Moving Ladies team for the weekend of racing and together we joined the mass of riders at the start line on Saturday, once again at the back. The world cup, being held in Bern, Switzerland the next day meant that the start list of Saturday’s race wasn’t quite as impressive as it had been at Borsele and Roeselare, with only three full UCI teams signing on; Lotto-Belisol, Leontien, and DSB Bank. Possibly because of this fact or because I’d become complacent in my, nearing three weeks here, I underestimated the difficulty of getting to the front in races like this and my race started and ended at the back.

Less than 10 minutes and 10 km into the race I was still at the back when a crash happened in front of me and I came tumbling down for the second time in as many weeks. My bike was rendered unrideable and my race was over. Emma, Trix and Mirthe all got caught behind the crash and also saw their races cut short. Linda and Nicki dodged the crash and went on to do quite well. Both were quite aggressive throughout the race, with Linda breaking away at 50km to go and being caught with 30km to go. Nicki finished well, in the top 25.

It was frustrating to watch the race from the sidelines and see the mass bunch sprint fly past my eyes with Rochelle Gilmore narrowly taking it from Claudia Wittereen. I was left wondering what could have been had my race not ended 120kms earlier.

If anything, watching the race unfold only made me more determined and focused on Sunday’s race, resolute that I would redeem myself and prove to myself and everyone watching that I wasn’t going to make a habit of not finishing races due to crashes.

After going our separate ways on Saturday the Moving Ladies team met again on Sunday in Veldhoven ready and raring to go. The day was beautiful. With the temperature in the 20s and barely any wind, conditions were perfect for a bike race. Today there was also a men’s race being held at the same place, carrying a UCI 1.2 ranking. It was pretty cool to see all the teams and riders and the absolutely huge bunch ride away for their 212km race. Theo Bos, riding for the Rabobank Pro Continental team ended up taking out the race.

Everyone in Moving Ladies decided today we would cut our usual pre race roll of the legs short and attempt to get closer to the front. Yesterday’s race had demonstrated that sometimes its just not possible to get to the front no matter how hard you try. Despite this show of initiative I still managed to end up closer to the back than the front and again had to gradually work my way to the front in the initial stages of the race.

The atmosphere in the team was really good, with everyone going into the race with a positive attitude and eager to do well. We were all communicating really well, riding at the front, letting each other know when there was a sudden left or right turn over the radios and making sure there was always at least one Moving Ladies girl in anything that went up the road.

The race was to be 112km, made up of one large 100km lap and one smaller 10km lap which saw the bunch pass the finish line once before coming in for the final sprint. Winding its way through numerous villages the race had lots of sections where ‘furniture’ as Chris the team manager calls it, or traffic islands were scattered over the road. I was obviously very mindful of these after my incident with the gutter the week before. The race also had a 10km stretch of cobbled road which began at the 60km mark, with 50cms on either side of the road being the slightly less harsh to ride on bricked road which was certain to be a defining section of the race.

When we hit the cobbles I was about 30 riders back and the bunch split into two single files, one driving it on the left hand side of the road and one on the right, avoiding the harsh cobbles which paved the whole middle section of the road. At times I could see gaps opening up in front of me with girls struggling to put the pressure down and ride efficiently on the stones. To bridge these gaps you were forced to brave the cobbles, accelerate past and tuck yourself back in. After experiencing cobbles just a few times now I can appreciate how difficult it is for someone who has never ridden them to grasp just what it is like to ride on them. They are draining and punishing on the body. Cobbles add a completely different element to bike racing and, despite how much I complain, I love it!

Less than a kilometre into the cobbled section and the front of the race was being blown to pieces. Two girls had a slight gap on the main bunch. I watched another three girls jump across to this break and knew that this move could be the move. I jumped on the wheel of a Leontien girl as she attacked to jump across to the break, together we closed the gap quickly and began rolling through and working turns immediately.

I’m forever being told off for riding too big a gear, grinding my pedalling action rather than spinning. This is one of the few points where cobbles and I agree. The best way to ride them is to throw it in the big chain ring, in a small cog and power over them, rolling rather than spinning.

The break continued to work well, quickly establishing a gap of 25seconds which the bunch held for over 15kms. The Ton van Bemmelen Sports team attempted to pull us back as they were the only major team which missed the break. The rest of my team did a great job in breaking up the chase, sitting at the front blocking and neutralising any attacks. After the 80km mark the chase in the bunch seemed to fall apart with the gap growing to 40seconds, then 50seconds and then one minute and 20 seconds. I continued to work hard in the break, pulling strong turns mindful that if we stopped working and got caught any sprinter left in the bunch would have done a lot less work than me throughout the race. Coming into the final kilometres, Lianne Wagtho from Leontien tried to attack the bunch a few times but each time I was straight on her wheel. I came into the final 500ms in third wheel, and opened up my sprint with 150m to go winning convincingly from Danielle Bickering (Hitech Products) and Elise van Hage (RedSun Cycling Team).

All I could hear when I crossed the line was “Ch-lue Hosking, Ch-lue Hosking” and some other very rushed Dutch. (Yes you read right, I have been renamed Clue over here. I find myself getting increasingly bitter with my parents many failures when it came to naming me. Firstly, having the wrong middle name written on my birth certificate and then neglecting to give the ‘e’ on the end of Chloe an accent, meaning that my name doesn’t get pronounced correctly in countries that actually use accents. Could they not have foreseen that I would be racing around the world?)

The whole Moving Ladies team got up on the podium to celebrate what had been a very enjoyable race and one which every member of the team was happy with. My next race with the team isn’t until the end of this month. I leave for Italy on Thursday and cannot wait for some hills and solid training! (Did I just say that?)

Keep posted for more blog’s on the happenings in Tuscany!

Yellow for a while then way too much gutter action.

Firstly, let me apologise for not keeping you updated more regularly. I have for the last few days been rather indisposed, for reasons you will soon discover.

The 2nd and 3rd of May saw the Moving Ladies team head to Medemblik, a town in the north of the Netherlands, for a two day mini tour consisting of a 70km Omloop and 100km Road Race. (Omloop, as I have come to learn is a circuit race which is longer than a criterium.) The tour was not quite at the same level as the UCI races I competed in the weekend before but with 150 girls all looking to try and add a win or two to their palmares I knew it was going to be another fast, aggressive and exhausting weekend of racing…I was right, but maybe not in the exact same sense I had prepared myself for.

The 70km Omloop began at 6:30 on Saturday evening, and was 10laps of a 7km course with a 1km stretch of Kwelderwej thrown in, which (almost) literally translates to “torture road”. With strong winds and a very chilly temperature I was eager to get the race underway, as were the other 149 competitors. As my five teammates and I rolled up to the start line we found the road already blocked by the majority of the field. Getting to the front and staying there is key to races in Europe, and on narrow, technical roads this can quite often be the greatest challenge you’ll face throughout the race. It’s not uncommon to see teams claiming their position on the starting line up to forty minutes before the race is due to start. As the race rolled away, (after numerous delays such as the lead motor bike having a flat tire and a rider dropping a chain which then took three people to put back on ), myself and the rest of the Moving Ladies team found ourselves at the very back of the bunch. As Emma had said “I might have to do some cyclo-cross”, we found ourselves darting through the smallest gap and occasionally acquainting ourselves with the grass in our quest to get to the front.

Once again the race didn’t let my expectations of Dutch racing down. The strong winds meant there was plenty of gutter action as people attempted to split the bunch apart. There was constant attacking and the 1km “torture road” stretch saw gaps open up and girls scramble to close them. This uneven brick section of road also made sure any loose water bottles would be punished, and I found myself not only having to pick the smoothest path of road but also dodging wild bottles in the process. Emma, who has had an incredible streak of bad luck in the last couple of weeks was unlucky enough to hit one of the stray bottles, crashing out of the race. Luckily she did no major damage to herself.

I got into a number of small breaks, I tried to drive the break to establish a decent gap, but I think with the combination of the riders in the race, team race plans and me not being a known rider yet no-one was willing to work to keep the break away. Coming into the final lap the bunch was together and it was clear it was going to be a mass sprint. The finish was very interesting, with a sharp left hand turn 600m from the line the road then curved to the left and kicked up hill for the last 150ms. Ideally, you would want to come from the left hand side as sprinting on the right would be like actually going around a European round-about when you can clearly just drive straight over the top of it. However, as everyone knows, things never, or almost never at least, go to plan in bike races. I came around the corner in 4th position and then somehow got myself boxed in. With 250ms to go I backed off, swung to the right and exploded up the right hand side of the road narrowly crossing the line in first position ahead of Claudia.

Being approached by the race commentator afterwards with a microphone was a little daunting, luckily he seemed to have caught on that my Dutch was limited to non-existent and interviewed me in English. I received my three kisses from the Mayor, my bunch of flowers and my first European yellow jersey which I would wear proudly in the next 100km road race stage.

I will not remember the second stage of the mini tour as fondly as I remember the first. The rain which began as we sat on the start line could have been seen as the first bad omen of the day. However, I think if you took that approach in the Netherlands you’d end up with an extremely grim looking future.

My race and overall Tour aspirations came to a crashing end 15kms into Sunday’s stage when I failed to see/hear the warning (if there was one?) that the gutter jutted out. As I seem to always do, I hit my head when I crashed, concussing myself and have very little memory of the crash and the next hour or so after. However, I’m told that when the team car got to me they found me putting my bike together and jumping straight back on to continue with the race. I’m quite impressed with my level of dedication, even when concussed.

Despite my initial attempt to continue with the race I was soon in an ambulance completely confused, disoriented and going in and out of consciousness. As it turns out, waking up in a foreign country thousands of miles away from home while a nurse speaks to you in Dutch and the roof is spinning can be quite overwhelming and exhausting.

My first trip to a Dutch hospital, a CT scan and a few hours later it turned out I was fine. The Moving Ladies team once again loaded everything into the cars and headed home after a very eventful weekend. Harrie, the man both Emma and I are staying with seemed to have found himself in charge of a mini hospital as both Emma and I hobbled into the house a little worse for wear than when we left.

This coming Saturday is my next UCI race. Here’s hoping I’m healed from my latest adventure and can improve on my last result when racing the big girls!

European Vacation, more like Wild chase.

My biggest fear heading to Europe to race was that I'd be one of those cyclists that can get results at home but not where it matters. Europe is to cycling what Hollywood is to acting, it's where you go to make it big. My first week, and first two races in Europe have been a boost to my confidence.

After arriving in the Netherlands on Wednesday my first race was to be a UCI 1.2 category 125km race around the village of Borsele, near the Belgium border on Saturday 25th April. At the start of this race I finally met the man I'd been e-mailing for months and the man who had given me this fantastic opportunity, my team manager, Chris Rouw. I also met six of my Moving Ladies team mates. Emma Trott, a girl 10months older than myself and a very strong Time Trial rider. Emma rode for the Great Britain national team for much of the 2008 season. Nikki Harris, a very strong cyclocross rider who placed 14th at the 2008 cyclocross world championships. Kate Cullen, another rider from the UK who has won medals at the Commonwealth games on the track. Sarah Cramoysan, a strong national rider in the UK. Linda Ringlever, a strong Dutch rider who rode for the UCI pro team Global, now known as Vision1 and Evelien Post, another strong Dutch club rider.

The race was 5 laps of a 25km circuit on roads barely wider than the bike paths around Canberra. With narrow roads, sharp corners, strong crosswinds, six of the biggest UCI Pro teams and a bunch of two hundred plus riders I was truly diving in the deep end. To skim through the details the race made everything else I have competed in look like a training ride. The Cervelo Women's team showed why they are arguably the best team in the world, pushing the pace at every opportunity and causing the bunch to splinter to pieces within the first 65km. By the last lap only sixteen out of the two-hundred girls who lined up at the start line that morning were at the front of the race, I was lucky enough to be one of them. I ended up finishing 6th which I was ecstatic with as my aim heading into the race had been: Get to the front and stay there. It was amazing to be racing next to women like Marianne Vos and Kirsten Wild, riders who up until now had been names on paper to me rather than, as it turns out, absolute machines.

The next day the Moving Ladies team headed to the village of Roeselare, near Gent in Belgium to race another UCI 1.2 category race, the GP Roeselare. After a small drama where we were in doubt as to whether we would have enough riders to actually start the race, myself and three of my team mates again lined up at the start line with two hundred of our closest friends. I had quickly established that small teams like Moving Ladies have one race plan in races such the GP Roeselare and the Omloop van Borsele: SURVIVE. And so as we rolled away surrounded by Team Columbia High Road, Cervelo, BSB Bank and Flexpoint riders, our race for survival began. Like yesterday's race the roads were very narrow and technical, however, unlike yesterday's race, this race had three short sharp power climbs, one of which had a maximum of 23 percent gradient and was cobbled.

If there is one thing I learnt from each race this weekend it is this:
i) riding in the gutter with roaring crosswinds while Cervelo bring back the break is not a dream come true, it's a nightmare; and
ii) climbs plus cobbles equals not pleasant.

I made it to the final kms intact. Cervelo once again had completely controlled the race, showing their dominance of Women's cycling. Kirsten Wild had her lead out train driving the pace from almost 10km out reaching over 55km/hr in the final stages. I found myself fighting for Rochelle Gilmore's wheel as we made the final right hand turn into the finish straight. I was unable to match both Kirsten and Rochelle's kicks and just missed out making the podium as I crossed the line for 4th in the mass bunch sprint. Again I was ecstatic with my result in only my second race in Europe. My results over the weekend have only made me hungrier to race against the top teams and top riders in the world and to prove myself and my abilities on the international cycling scene.

Here's hoping the podium is the next stop!

Bad things come in threes, then it just gets better.

The third stage of the Tour of Chongming Island was truly a surreal experience and one of the most memorable moments of my cycling career to date. It was definitely a day that I, and I'm sure everyone on the MB Cycles team, will not soon forget.

We headed into Stage Three, 5 seconds up on General Classification (GC) and also in the green sprinter jersey after I took out both intermediate sprints and finished 3rd in Stage Two. Our aim for the Stage was simple; protect the yellow jersey. After watching years of bike races I should have known thatthis task was never a simple or easy feat, yet my naivety got the better of me and I could never have expected what was in store for me and all the girls on the MB team. The first intermediate sprint was at 34km and all the girls showed that they were ready to meet and beat the expectations placed upon the team wearing the yellow jersey. The girls controlled the peloton and allowed me to easily take out the first intermediate sprint and gain another second advantage on my nearest GC rival, Zhao Na, from Giant Pro Cycling Team.

This smooth run was not to continue and it seemed, after the 40km mark anything that could go wrong, would. A sharp left hand turn 10km after the first intermediate sprint marked the beginning of what was to be a streak of bad luck. First a crash which sent two girls to hospital occurred directly in front of me, I was lucky enough to quickly swerve to the left, narrowly avoiding it. Tess, on the other hand, was not so lucky. Coming down in the crash Tess lost some skin and was kind enough to act as the road to riders behind her as they rode over the top of her. Thankfully she came out of the crash relatively unscathed and was back on her bike in an instant. I, and the other MB girls were completely oblivious to Tess' bad luck and were soon too absorbed in the next mishap of the day to realise until the end of the stage.

What seemed like seconds after I had avoided the crash in front of me I heard the sound that every cyclist dreads when racing, especially when the wind is roaring and you're already on the rivet. My rear tire commenced to puncture rapidly as I suddenly found myself riding on the rim of a Zipp 404. "I have a rear flat. I have a rear flat" I proceeded to announce over the radio to my team, in what I thought was a reasonably calm manner, this composure was not to last.

As soon as the other teams got news that the yellow jersey had flatted it was like they were a pack of wolves who had caught the scent of fresh meat. The South African team, who even had a rider down in the crash, immediately attacked and I'm told that these attacks did not cease, with the New Zealand and Chinese teams all actively trying to ride the MB team out of the race and try and take the yellow jersey for themselves.

Bridie O'Donell was the first MB girl to get to me and immediately gave me her wheel, I was back riding within seconds. Tahlia was at my side at once and Tess was soon to follow as she came rocketing up from behind, as I learnt later she was chasing after crashing. Both Tess and Tahlia knewexactly what to do and they began to work turns protecting me. After receiving a spare wheel Bridie was soon in hot pursuit of Tess, Tahlia and I and as soon as she joined us the chase really began.

Slowly but surely my composure began to slip away from me as panic started to cloud all sense I had left. I found myself dropping wheels and the girls, because of me, were going backwards rather than forwards as they attempted to get me back into the race. At this stage we were 1 minute and 10seconds down on the main bunch. We had lost the yellow jersey on the road and the feeling was truly devastating. Tess, very wisely instructed me to "Breath" and it was this simple instruction which seemed to click things back into place for me. I immediately concentrated on my breathing andfinding a rhythm and my composure came back. From then on Bridie, Tahlia and Tess were just a force. I've heard Phil Liggett say so many times while watching the TDF what being in yellow can do to a rider and to a team. It was at that moment that I realised he wasn't just dribbling nonsense. If we had not been in yellow and if we had not been so determined to claim back what was ours I don't know if we all could have dug as deep as we did.

After 20 kilometres of chasing we found ourselves sitting 50 metres off the back of the main bunch, and it was this 50 metres which took us the longest to close. The relentless attacking which had begun as soon as I punctured combined with the strength of the wind had torn the Peloton apart, splitting it into two bunches. Both Amber and Liz, my other two team mates were in the front bunch covering and neutralising the attacks coming from the Chinese, New Zealand, Ukrainian and South African teams. And here the next complication of the day's stage begins.

Amber had gone into the stage with a broken radio, she could not hear anything being relayed over the radio between the team and so was completely in the dark as to the situation which had unfolded behind her. At some point during the race Liz's radio also stopped relaying messages to her. As Bridie, Tahlia, Tess and I sat 50metres behind the main bunch for 5kms not making any progress you can not imagine the desperation we felt that just once one of the girls radios would work. (Bridie's screaming into a block head wind may give you some indication of the level of desperation.) After what seemed like hours Liz got a crackle over her radio, turned behind her and saw the train of pink, she immediately dropped back and helped close the 50metres which had seemed so impossible for us to close before. It’s comforting to know that even when we're all onthe rivet after chasing for almost 30kms we still had a sense of humour when the Italian, German and South African girls who we had dragged back to bunch with us rolled past us saying "thank-you, thank-you".

The next 70kms were a matter of conserving as much energy as possible so as to be able to contest the sprint for the stage win. It was difficult to sit back and watch the Chinese contest the third intermediate sprint of the day and see Zhao Na reduce the difference between us on GC.

There was a sweeping left hander 2km from the line and then a sweeping right hand corner 1km from the line. I managed to position myself on the Chinese pace line and despite all the bad luck we had experienced earlier that day the sprint could not have been more perfect. The pace was on, the bunch spread single file and I was sitting on Zhao Na's fourth wheel around the corner. With 200metres to go I exploded off Na's wheel, swinging to the left of the road. I crossed the line with my arms in the air, relief, satisfaction and gratitude were just some of the emotions I can remember feeling. Behind me, the girls crossed the line with their arms raised too. As Bridie said later that night, that stage made us all understand why riders in 20th, or 57th place raise their arms in victory as they see their sprinter cross the line.

It was truly one of the hardest bike races I have ever ridden, both mentally and physically. I'm so satisfied that after all the work the girls had done to get me to the finish that I was able to pull it off. This stage win is the best win of my cycling career to date, because it wasn't just my win, it was the teams.

Tour of Chongming Island '09

Three days into my adventure around the world and counting. My trip to China with the MB Cycling Team managed by Marcel Bengston to compete in the Tour of Chongming Island (a tour consisting of three flat road stages and one criterium) started off a little shaky. With half the team almost missing the flight to Shanghai due to their flight being delayed by an hour coming from Brisbane, and things just seemed to keep going wrong. As lucky as they were in actually making the flight to Shanghai their luggage wasn't as fortunate.

When we arrived in Shanghai we found numerous wheels, bikes and clothing bags missing in action. Two and half hours later and an interesting excursion to the airport food hall in which the team attempted to find food which even half resembled what we thought safe to eat, the luggage finally arrived and we were on our way to Chongming Island. As simple as this may sound it could not have been more difficult. As the name suggests we were racing on an Island, a simple two hour drive (when the bus driver gets lost), and one hour ferry trip from the air port. A near deadly bus trip, a missed ferry and a fogging in later we eventually arrived in Chongming the next day, only 12 hours after our expected arrival time. The New Zealand team who had been on the same plane as us were a little perplexed as to how we managed to turn up at the accomodation almost half a day after them.

Despite this somewhat questionable start to out trip Bridie O'Donell got the MB team off to a great start with a win in the UCI 1.1 time trial, winning by over a minute (this event is not part of the actual Tour). Amber Halliday, the only other MB girl to race the time trial finished a credible 6th.

Heading into the first stage of the Tour we all knew we had something to prove. We'd already shown our team had strength with Bridie and Ambers performances in the time trial the day before. Marcel, the eternal optimist, was certain we could take out the stage. The race was to be 16 laps of 4.9km dead flat circuit around the streets of Chongming. Each member of the team was given a specific job, today mine was to conserve energy and my legs for the final sprint and protect Tess' wheel in the intermediate sprints, of which there were three.

The team got off to an awesome start, with all the girls showing that the presence of three UCI Pro Teams did not intimidate them. Tess showed her track legs were in full spin with a 3rd in the second intermediate sprint, earning her a time bonus which placed her in 8th overall at the end of the stage. With 7 laps to go, under the instruction of Marcel, all the girls moved to the front to mix up the pace and test the quality of the field. With a strong cross wind the girls drove it in the gutter as I sat back and watched the bunch thin down to single file. From then on the pace never really eased off. The Nurnberger team were very aggressive and the girls did a fantastic job of covering their attacks.Coming into the final lap all the girls were once again on the front in control.

With 2km to go the Chinese pace line began to creep up the sides. The Chinese clearly had something to prove on their home turf. The pace was incredible and as the bunch wove around the last corners of the race I made the decision to jump onto the wheel of Selle Italia Ghezzi rider, Ange Bagdonaviciute (I'd been tipped off by an Italian friend that she was one to watch).

Coming into the last corner which was a sweeping left hander 600m from the line I was third wheel, tucked in nicely behind a Nurnberger girl and Bagdonaviciute. There was a strong head wind in in the finish straight so I knew I couldn't open up the sprint too early. With about 150ms to go as I saw two Chinese creeping up on my left hand I hit the gas and was lucky enough to hold off Lorena Foresi from Selle Italia and Zhao Na from Giant Pro Cycling Team.

It was great to be able to cap off the race with a win after the girls had done such a fantastic job in delivering me to the final kilometres protected and fresh.I head into tomorrow's 79.8km road race with the sprinters green jersey and in 2nd place on General Classification, three seconds down on Zhao Na as I didn't contest the intermediate sprints.

Stay posted for the next instalment!