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National Road Championships: Gracie Elvin interview

Orica-GreenEDGE cyclist Gracie Elvin celebrates winning back-to-back National titles (Image: Mark Gunter via GreenEDGE cycling)
Expert
14th January, 2014
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Gracie Elvin is quickly establishing herself as one of Australia’s premier road cyclists with her back-to-back victory in Saturday’s Women’s Road Race in Buninyong.

The 25-year-old from Canberra spoke to The Roar about her weekend victory and her goals for the 2014 season.

The Roar: Congratulations, Gracie on your victory on Saturday. Two National Road Titles in a row is a fantastic feat. Going into Saturday’s race, did you think you could make it two in a row?

Gracie Elvin: I knew that I was in good fitness for it and I had good preparation, so, yeah, physically I knew I was capable but there was so many good girls in that race, it was still making me pretty nervous just before the race.

I was just trying to stay positive and know that we had a really strong team and we’re smart riders as well, so yeah, I certainly wasn’t overconfident.

Q: How was this year’s win different from last year’s?

A: This win actually means more to me, I think. It definitely feels a bit more special. Last year was ‘pinch me moments’ for weeks after. I guess it was something I hadn’t really thought about beforehand and when I won it, it was this amazing bonus. It was a lot of fun.

I guess this year I put a little bit more pressure on myself. I knew I’d done it before and I could possibly do it again. No one else was putting pressure on me but myself. To come through it at the end of the day and to win it was a pretty unbeatable feeling.

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Q: Going into Saturday’s road race, who did you think were your biggest threats?

A: I was definitely looking at Tiffany Cromwell, my teammate from last year. She was with a new team this year, Specialized-lululemon, so she definitely had a bit of fire in her to win the race on her own.

She didn’t really have any teammates to support her and I knew she really wanted it. She’s a really capable rider and she’s smart on the bike as well.

I think she was one of the biggest threats and then we’ve also got, Katrin Garfoot, who got third in the end. She’s a reasonably new rider and she’s proven to be super strong, so I was a bit worried about her as well.

Q: Katrin’s a great rider and I thought she rode really well on Saturday.

A: I was marking her in the sprint in that last group at the finish. I picked her out as probably the best sprinter in the group and just made sure I kept an eye on her and managed to just ‘jump her early’, I guess that’s what they say.

It was all about timing at the end and I tried to be as patient as possible. It’s a funny sprint because it’s downhill and it’s fast. You can tend to go a little bit early because you get too excited.

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I’m not sure if it’s a bit of Queensland bias, but Robbie McEwen tweeted his race predictions and he had Garfoot noting she’s a strong climber and sprinter.

She won the NRS series last year and she really looked liked she won it easy. She’s got a lot of talent there and she’s shown to be really strong in all areas of cycling: climbing and sprinting and time trialing too.

I think she’s going to be a really good rider for Australia this year.

Q: What are the most difficult aspects of the Buninyong course?

A: I guess the climbing really hurts everyone toward the end of the race. It’s not a long climb but when you have to do it ten times, it wears you out pretty quickly.

The rest of the course really doesn’t leave much room to rest. You’ve pretty much got to peddle the whole way round, even on the descent. It makes you work hard. It’s unrelenting.

Q: Also it was quite warm on Saturday as well.

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A: Yeah, it wasn’t super hot but it was warm enough you really needed to be sure you were drinking a lot of fluid and making sure you were keeping your core temperature down.

I think it was 25 – 27 degrees. I’m not sure exactly but it was warm enough to affect you if you weren’t looking after yourself in the race.

Q: I suppose this is where experience comes in. Some of the younger riders may lack the experience to look after themselves in warmer conditions.

A: Yes, it’s definitely something that you have to really train yourself to do. It’s easy to get too nervous or focus too much on the race and forget to take a drink or to get a new bottle from your feeder in the feed zone.

It’s something you really have to keep on top of and it’s just as important as making sure you’re chasing down breakaways.

Q: You caught Lisa Jacobs within the final 25km, but then got dropped on the final climb. What was going through your mind, firstly when you attacked Jacobs and then when you got dropped on that climb?

A: I think I caught up to Lisa on lap eight and I attacked before that on top of the climb on lap seven. It was a gamble.

It was my job for the team to pick good moments. I didn’t have a specific role except to find good moments in the race to breakaway or do what I needed to. I just thought that was the best moment so I took it.

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No one came with me so I was chasing her on my own. Then I caught her and we worked together for half a lap. I didn’t actually attack her at the bottom of the eighth or ninth climb, I just rode off on her! She was pretty tired and she helped me a bit.

She was working with me as much as she could but she’d been on her own a lot of the race, so I think she was pretty tired by then. Then it was hard for me to be out there on my own as well.

Q: You were in the saddle for around three hours on Saturday. Were there ever any negative thoughts creeping in and if so how did you combat them?

A: Definitely. Last year when I won the title, halfway through the race I was thinking, ‘ah, my legs aren’t feeling that good’ or ‘I don’t think I’m one of the better riders here’ and I was definitely getting a bit negative about it, but then I found a good moment to attack.

I didn’t think it was the winning move, but it turned out to be. So that was a good lesson for me last year. You have to race the race until you cross the finish line. Don’t give up on yourself, kind of thing.

Then this year, I just made sure I kept a bit more of a positive frame of mind. I knew I could be one of the riders there at the end of the race, even if I wasn’t the best climber. [I thought] ‘Even if I got dropped on the last climb, I’ve still got half a lap to get back on. Just stay calm and just get back there with Lauren Kitchen.’

It was a gamble but I think the different mind set for me really helped.

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Q: At what point did you know you had the win?

A: As soon as I crossed the line, I knew that I was first wheel across the line. I was pretty excited. I was yelling, I was making a lot noise. I was pretty happy.

Last year, it was only a small margin across the finish line and I didn’t salute straight away because I wasn’t unsure if I’d won it or not.

But this year I was sure. I put everything into that sprint. That was probably one of the best sprints I’d done and it was just pure passion and, I don’t know, desperation to get to the line first. Yeah, I gave it everything.

Q: The team went into Saturday’s race with a lot of confidence. How do you harness that confidence into your own performance?

A: That’s a good question. We’ve raced a lot together now. Last year was my first year with the team but I’d raced a little bit with those girls before that.

Our whole team ethos is ‘teamwork wins races’. We have a team meeting before every race and after every race, to go through what our plans are and then what we did well and what we could do better.

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We just have that really strong trust in one another and I think we’re quite good tacticians on the road and we’re all quite strong, so in that combination, we have that extra confidence as a team rather than as individuals.

So, we’re definitely, greater as a team than as a sum of the parts – I guess you could change that saying around!

We’ve got some great experienced riders in the team and I’ve definitely learned a lot from the girls. Amanda Spratt and Jessie MacLean have been racing for a long time and they really know a lot of different scenarios and how they can play out. They’ve given me a lot of good advice and even on the day, on Saturday, they were giving me some good advice during the race.

And that’s one of our strengths, we talk to each other during the race as well.

Q: Are the team meetings led by management or by the riders?

A: They’re led by the director, definitely. The DS, they do stay out of it. They kind of let us guide the conversation.

So everything is out on the table and we’re all happy at the end of it. We don’t like to leave things unsaid if something didn’t go well that day. I think it’s important to be honest with each other.

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But the director will definitely have certain comments that he observed that day that we may not have picked up on. It’s good to get everyone’s input.

Q: You had a busy week last week with the ITT on Wednesday, the crit on Thursday and then the road race on Saturday. You also rode in the Bay Crits. How hard is it to prepare for all of these races in a short space of time? And what is involved in that preparation?

A: Yeah, it’s a really intense two weeks of racing. We do a lot of foundation work in November/December, so we’re doing a lot of long distance rides and lots of climbing and just building back on our fitness and strength.

Once we get to the Bay Crits, that’s kind of our intensity training. Bay Crits are hard but they really help you with your fitness for Nationals.

If you’re already in pretty good shape, so even though it’s a hard block, hopefully by the road race, by the end of the Nationals, you’re going really well, unless you crash!

Q: Were you at all concerned with your form after the crash in Thursday’s crit?

A: Yeah, I was a little bit. I fell pretty hard in the race on my left side. I was pretty bruised and it was uncomfortable to sit down on a chair for a couple of days. Luckily it was just manageable on the saddle and by Saturday it wasn’t too painful to ride.

I was definitely worried that my muscles would stiffen up and I’d hurt my back a little as well. But I just made sure I got some good rest and massage and stretching and recovered as much as possible and then by Saturday I was actually feeling okay.

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I just tried to keep a positive mindset again and just know that I was going to race regardless and not think about what hurt.

Q: What will wearing the national jersey in Europe for the second year in a row mean for you?

A: It feels like I’ve kind of consolidated my strength and my abilities as a rider. It feels like last year wasn’t a fluke [laughing].

I love representing Australia. I’m really proud to be an Australian. I love to be able to wear the green and gold stripes and it definitely gives you a bit more respect in the bunch in Europe as well, I think.

Q: What are the biggest challenges of racing in Europe?

A: It’s tough racing. You’re in a bunch of 150 girls or maybe more sometimes and you’re on narrow roads so it’s pretty intense racing and there’s not that much room for error.

And there’s so many girls that are all at a similar level, so you really have to be on top of your game mentally and physically just so you can get an inch ahead on the many people that are going the same as you. That’s what’s difficult.

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As an Australian being away from home for so long is the hardest thing: to be away from your friends and family. If you have a bad day you can’t go home, so we really have to stick together as a team and become each other’s family and friends over there.

Q: I was fortunate enough to attend the Women’s Cycling Forum on Sunday morning, chaired by Tracey Gaudry and Moniqe Hanley. It was a great morning that allowed for lots of discussion on how to progress women’s cycling. What do you think are the key factors that need considering in; a) getting more women onto bikes and, b) getting the sport of women’s cycling a higher profile?

A: Yeah, there’s certainly a lot of areas that can be worked on. There’s been a call for women’s equality over the last year or two. I think it’s definitely a situation where women’s cycling needs to be looked at as its own sport. We need to build women’s cycling as its own sport and as its own business.

And that means getting women interested and involved and also not forgetting that the men’s role in following the sport is just as important. Men love to follow sport and women do to and we need to make sure that both of those sides are covered.

And I think something like tennis has done a really good job where it appeals to both genders. Their women are presented really well, they speak well, they have good stories, good personalities and then they play well on the court. So, I think that’s where women’s cycling is starting to improve.

We’re starting to see teams create their own profile online and in the media and individual riders are doing that as well and I think that’s what’s going to be a big selling point for the sport, is having those personalities involved and making it something that people do want to watch and be apart of.

It’s building all of those small things up until we get it to become something that’s commercially viable and I think that’s where we’re going to get the biggest gains.

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Q: The Santos Women’s Cup is next week. How many Orica-AIS riders are heading over?

A: We’re taking the whole Orica-AIS team to Adelaide for those races and we’re really looking forward to that. I think it’s awesome that they’ve included a road race this time. They’ve made it a bit of a mini-tour and I think that’s a great start towards some more racing for women at this time of year.

And it’s an awesome atmosphere down at the Tour Down Under. So many people go for a holiday and go to watch the race. Adelaide’s really buzzing and we’re all really excited for that week.

We’re heading off this Saturday and we’ll stay for two weeks. We’re going to do a training camp afterwards before we head to the Tour of Qatar.

Q: You had some great results there last year with a second on the first stage, fourth in GC and of the course the team came in first. What are your goals for that race this year?

A: Last year was really great and that was the first time I’d done that race, so we’re definitely looking to repeat similar results this year.

We’re actually going to take a proper sprinter this time with Mel Hoskins. We’re going to have a lot more cards to play in the racing.

I think we’re all in really good form at the moment too, so I think we can race as well as we did last year and get better results again. We’re looking to get some more stage wins and win the tour overall with one of us, hopefully.

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Q: Do you think it’s an advantage for Orica-AIS having the Nationals now in January heading in to the Tour Qatar? Presumably most of your European rivals haven’t had as much racing at this time of year.

A: Yeah, it’s definitely an advantage at this time of year to be fit for Qatar and some of the spring races. We definitely have that race fitness from the Bay Crits and from some of the National races, so that’s why we’re a bit stronger at Qatar, traditionally.

It’s fun to be one of the stronger teams and one of the stronger riders there, but then it is hard once you get to May or June in the year. That’s when you start to notice the difference of the Europeans picking up their form and we’re starting to get more tired.

It’s bit of a balancing act all year. There’s pros and cons.

Q: And more broadly, what are your goals for 2014?

A: I really would like to represent Australia at the Commonwealth Games this year. That’s a big goal for all of us Aussie girls. And I’d really like to try and get a win in one of the European races this year. I haven’t quite managed that yet and that’s a big goal for me as well.

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