Clocking up victory in what could be her last season as a pro bike rider, Alexis Rhodes powered to her fourth Australian criterium championship title today. The 27 year old Alice Springs rider attacked with twelve laps remaining out of the 30 lap, 33 kilometre race, and hit the line seven seconds clear of her GreenEdge-AIS team-mate Melissa Hoskins. The latter took the under 23 title, making it double success for the team.
“One hour criteriums are a little different to a three-hour road race but I've been training really hard the last couple of months and I've got a really good team,” Rhodes said after the race.
Today’s win saw her follow up previous criterium championship victories in 2004, 2006 and 2007. It also marked a successful recovery from complicated surgery to correct a blood flow issue in her legs.
The condition, which has also affected riders such as Stuart O’Grady and others, caused numbness and a lack of power. The iliac artery surgery meant that she had to take six months off the bike, but she proved today that she is now back up to speed.
“I had a lot of scar tissue there, so they had to open my stomach up, clean my artery out and make a little graft and sew it back together again,” she explained.
Today’s success is the fifth win of the new season for the GreenEdge team. It clocked up two stage victories in the Jayco Bay Cycling Classic (Shara Gillow and Amanda Spratt), took the overall honours with Hoskins and now has the elite and under 23 criterium titles too.
“It’s absolutely sensational to finish first and second,” said the team’s directeur sportif Dave MacPartland afterwards. “The main goal was to win the race, and we knew, from previous years, that a break could succeed on this circuit. While we were confident that we could win in a sprint with Mel, we were happy also to win with a breakaway. We ended up coming out on top in both scenarios.”
He said that once Rhodes went clear, it was a question of holding back, letting the gap grow, marking chases and then only ramping up the pace on the final lap. By that time it was obvious that Rhodes would stay away, so the team was able to hit the jets and set up Hoskins for her silver medal and under 23 title.
“When it was time to get to the front, Tiffany Cromwell carried Mel across the whole back stretch and rode her through the final corners,” he explained. “The finish was an uphill sprint, and Mel was the strongest. Tiff really did an exceptional job setting Mel up for the sprint.”
Rhodes and the team are now turning their attention to Saturday’s road race, which she won last year. She’ll do her utmost to defend, but says the most important thing is that one of the team takes the jersey.
“If I don't win on Saturday, I really hope one of my team-mates do,” she said. “Hopefully we can really dictate the race like we did tonight, but there are probably other people who have a lot of other ideas as well.”
Rhodes has built a strong career despite a near-fatal accident in 2005 which left her with multiple fractures. Her friend and team-mate Amy Gillett was killed in the crash, which happened when a car hit a group of Australian team riders training in Germany.
Katie Brown, Lorian Graham, Kate Nichols and Louise Yaxley were injured, Rhodes and Yaxley most seriously, but she was able to return to the top level over time.
Rhodes has said that her big goal for the season is to ride the Olympic Games in London. After that, it appears that she might hang up her wheels, despite still being a young rider.
She told The Advertiser that she was giving it serious thought. “It's been that way for the last couple of years,'' Rhodes said. “Last year I nearly pulled the pin a year early. I'm 27 and it's not old but I've been doing it since I was 15. While I still love it I want to have a family.
“I'm pretty happy in Adelaide and that's another reason for hanging it (bike) up being back close to my family again.”
Mars Cycling Australia national championships, Ballarat :
Elite women/U23 critierium :
1, Alexis Rhodes (Sa) 49 mins 32 mins
2, Melissa Hoskins (Wa) at 7 secs
3, Annette Edmondson (Sa)
4, Belinda Goss (Vic)
5, Peta Mullens (Vic)
6, Lauren Kitchen (Nsw)
7, Kirsty Broun (Qld)
8, Gracie Elvin (Act)
9, Rebecca Werner (Sa)
10, Joanne Hogan (Vic)
11, Isabella King (Wa)
12, Grace Sulzberger (Tas)
13, Nicole Moerig (Qld)
14. Jessie Maclean (Act)
15, Rebecca Wiasak (Act) all same time
16, Stephanie Ives (Vic) at 14 scs
17, Jessica Allen (Wa) at 20 scs
18, Melina Bernecker (Vic)
19, Tiffany Cromwell (Sa) at 27 secs
20, Amy Bradley (Vic) at 29 secs
21, Sinead Noonan (Sa) at 31 secs
22, Chloe Mcconville (Vic)
23, Rowena Fry (Tas) at 36 secs
24, Chloe Hosking (Act) at 1 min 16 secs
DNF:
Nicole Whitburn (Vic)
Megan Bagworth (Act)
Carley Mckay (Vic)
Kimberley Wells (Act)
Emma Mackie (Nsw)
Katrin Garfoot (Qld)
Lisa Jacobs (Vic)
Elizabeth Phillipou (Sa)
Amber Jenkins (Nsw)
Katherine O'shea (Vic)
Ailie Mcdonald (Act)
Alice Wallett (Act)
Emma Lawson (Tas)
Ashlee Ankudinoff (Nsw)
Myfanwy Galloway (Act)