THE bear hug that Orica-GreenEDGE team director Matt Wilson had for Launceston cycling star Matt Goss showed this was more than just another early-season win.
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After two lean years of results, followed by plenty of talk in the last few weeks about Goss's cycling future, he gave his confidence a massive boost by taking out race two of the Bay Classic criterium series.
Winning the women's round yesterday at Eastern Park in Geelong was also doubly special for London Olympian Chloe Hosking.
She became emotional as she dedicated the result to her brother-in-law Lachlan Smith, who died last October of cancer.
By upsetting Italian star Georgia Bronzini, Hosking showed the fruits of a strong pre-season as she aims to make the Australian road team for the Glasgow Commonwealth Games.
For sprinters such as Goss and Hosking, winning in the Mitchelton Bay Classic series can be the springboard for a monster season.
Goss took out the overall series title in 2011 and went on to become the first Australian to win the Milan-Sanremo classic.
But he has managed only three wins over the past two years and is in the last year of a lucrative contract with Orica-GreenEDGE.
When asked what if felt like to win again, Goss simply said ``finally''.
Goss also admitted to feeling the pressure. ``It does play with your head sometimes,'' he said.
``I spend a lot of time on the bike _ there's heaps of time to think about it.''