Shara Gillow’s aim of winning an Olympic cycling gold medal will depend to a great extent on what might be termed `the vomit zone’. The 24-year-old starred on Tuesday at the Australian road cycling championships, winning the women’s elite gold medal by more than a minute.
It was her second-straight national title in the event and she is undoubtedly the top Australian in the women’s time trial seven months from the London Games.
But Gillow wants to win in London, not go there just for the tracksuit, and at her best she would be about fifth or sixth in the world.
Australian coach Martin Barras said if Gillow is to become a medal contender, she must improve her ability to suffer.
“Everything above threshold, everything that’s vomit-inducing, is basically where her biggest margin of progression is at the moment,” Barras said.
“We’re looking at that for her training and preparation, we’re looking at the premise of that, which is to make her stronger.
“She has a fantastically gut-busting journey in front of her.
“I keep telling her, ‘I want to be able to drive in the car with a bucket with your name written on it … as soon as you’re finished, see if you can fill it.”
For all the fancy aerodynamic equipment, elite time trialling comes down to two attributes – what cyclists call “a big engine” and then the ability to turn it into a high-performance “motor”.
Gillow undoubtedly has the engine, or physiology.
“Shara is naturally very gifted for time trialling,” Barras said.
“She’s good at threshold, she can get at threshold and stay there all day.
“Her margin on manoeuvre above threshold is very, very narrow … that’s where the work is being done at the moment.”
Barras stresses that at this point in the Olympic year, no-one is guaranteed a berth in the women’s road team for London.
But going on Tuesday’s results, Gillow, second-placed Taryn Heather, bronze medallist Bridie O’Donnell, Amanda Spratt (fourth) and Alexis Rhodes (fifth) are the contenders.
Gillow, Spratt and Rhodes are members of the new GreenEDGE-AIS women’s team that also features German legend Judith Arndt, the reigning world time trial champion.
It is manna from heaven for Barras that Gillow, who is still gaining experience, will have Arndt as a team-mate.
“It’s very nice, I’m still pinching myself,” Barras said with a broad grin.
“I can tap her (Gillow) on the shoulder and say ‘just turn around, have a look at this girl, because that’s how it’s done’.
“I don’t have to guess, I don’t have to tell her stories, I don’t have to make up shit – it’s there, clear to be seen.
“Arndt is fair-dinkum about it all too – she’s aware of what she’s walking into.”
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