The last time we spoke to Chloe Hosking, sitting in a pavilion on the sidelines of the Bay Crits in early January, there was no question that the uncertainty was weighing. The 32-year-old certainly isn’t a rider who is used to the straight and easy road, but it was one of the more vicious twists that left one of Australia’s most successful riders facing an unexpected and unwanted early end to her career as a professional cyclist.
Though speaking to Hosking just months after the late collapse of the B&B Hotels team left her making that unexpected turn, the Canberra-based sprinter is embracing her new reality, having adapted to a new place in cycling with the characteristic speed she displayed on the bike.
Hosking had continuing training and racing through January and into early February, with the potential for a 2023 European season still in mind, taking on the Bay Crits and Melbourne to Warrnambool – where she came third with the support of the Roxsolt Liv SRAM team – as well as the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race with UniSA-Australia.
“As things dragged on, I just decided that I wasn’t willing to wait anymore,” Hosking told Cyclingnews. “I needed to make some decisions and just take control of what I could control, which is how I’ve always really had the best results throughout my career really. I don’t do well when things are spiralling out of my control.”
“So really taking back ownership, I made the decision to stay in Australia, focussed on my uni and yes, focussed on the next stages and next steps.”
Those next steps included not just finishing a law degree but also working part-time as a para-legal, throwing herself into the local cycling community and setting up a weekly junior bunch ride, starting up a bike brand with husband Jack – Hosking Bikes – and taking on a gravel race in Europe before heading to the United States to tackle a series of criteriums.
That meant when Hosking was asked what she enjoyed about her new Canberra-based life, she had plenty of answers, also adding being an active aunt, to many items from the list above. Still, for the Commonwealth Games gold medallist and winner of La Course, answering the question of what she missed from her life as a professional cyclist wasn’t so easy.
“I don’t know. I’m really happy. I do feel like I was getting to a point where I might’ve ended up being a bit resentful toward the sport, and maybe this all came at a really good time where I still had that enthusiasm and…
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