At the end of last year as Grace Brown was discussing her plans for 2022 the list of big goals the Australian rattled off seemed long, and perhaps a little exhausting, but it seems the pacing skills that work for her in the time trial and on those solo attacks have been transferred just as well to her season strategy.
That long list included the Tour de France Femmes, Commonwealth Games – where she won the time trial – but most importantly at the end was a home UCI Road World Championships in Wollongong where she is among the list of favourites for both the elite women’s time trial on Sunday September 18 and road race on September 23.
“I’ve come to this point of the season quite well actually because I maybe hit the start of the year a bit, um, underdone and didn’t perform in the way I wanted to in the Classics,” Brown told Cyclingnews in Wollongong. “But I think in the end it’s been a little bit of a blessing because this latter part of the season I’ve come into probably my best shape of the year.
“A lot of people get fatigued by the World Champs but I’m feeling good and I think that I can have some good races this week.”
The 30-year-old who races for FDJ-SUEZ-Futuroscope has already delivered some impressive results in the race against the clock, adding a fourth at the Olympic Games last year and an Australian time trial title at the start of this one to that Commonwealth gold medal.
But it’s hard to imagine a much bigger result than the podium at a home Road World Championships. Brown taking the rainbow jersey in the opening event, of course would be the dream scenario for the home crowd. Only one rider, however, has broken the Dutch stranglehold on the title in the past five years and that was Chloe Dygert (USA) in 2019.
“I know that I’m up there and competitive at the top of the field,” Brown told a pre-event media conference. “We’ll see on Sunday where that lands me.
“Obviously there are some really strong girls there and it’s a unique course. It’s been hard to predict who it is going to suit best out of the top riders. I believe that I’m in with a good shot.”
The 34.2km course starts on Market St and finishes on nearby Marine Drive in Wollongong, with riders taking on two laps of the turn heavy loop that works its way through the coastal city and its surrounds. The corner count of about 30 a lap is concentrated in the earlier sections of the circuit, with the road opening into a smoother run in along the coast to the finish line…
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