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Anna Meares has regained her lightning speed, but the race hardness will take time.
The queen of world track cycling will compete at her first Australian championships in two years from Wednesday at the Adelaide Superdrome.
Meares had a sabbatical after winning the sprint gold medal at the London Olympics.
She showed she was back to top fitness in early December by breaking her own world record for the 500m time trial.
But in tactical events such as the sprint and keirin, Meares is still finding her way.
So the nationals are important, even though she will train through them ahead of the February 28-March 2 world titles in Cali, Colombia.
“She’s on track in certain areas, it’s fair to say,” said Australian sprint coach Gary West.
“Anna has come back from the sabbatical really, really well.
“She’s trained her arse off, she’s worked really hard and, from a physical standpoint, she’s back to nearly where she was.
“But Anna needs a bit more racing and a bit more hardening through competition.”
Several other front-line track riders, such as fellow sprinters Shane Perkins and Matthew Glaetzer, will also have to cope with heavy training programs through the Australian titles.
“This decision was taken because we know we need to get these riders ready for the end of February,” West said.
So younger riders such as Mitch Bullen, Emeron Harwood, Jacob Schmid, Taylah Jennings and Steph Morton might have a good chance to claim some big scalps.
“Nationals are always important in terms of a marker to see where we are, how we’re travelling with individuals,” West said.
Unlike swimming, a win at the track cycling nationals will not guarantee a rider selection for bigger events such as the Glasgow Commonwealth Games.
“It’s more complicated than the swimming model,” West said.
“But that’s not to say performances aren’t important – they certainly are.
“We tend to consider the nationals along with other performances – particularly the world cups and world championships.”
Meares will be in action on day one in the 500m time trial.
Another Wednesday highlight will be the men’s 4000m individual pursuit, which will feature a strong field.
But Kaarle McCulloch, who partnered Meares to win bronze in the team sprint at the London Olympics, will miss the nationals with a knee injury.
Sprinter Pete Lewis is also out because of glandular fever.
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