Tasmanian cycling star Amy Cure has claimed the box seat for a 2020 Olympic berth by taking Oceania championship victories in both new-look track events.
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Just four months after a disappointing Rio Olympic campaign, Cure added gold medals in the madison and omnium to Australia’s team pursuit triumph in Melbourne.
Her state coach Matthew Gilmore, who is also national omnium coach and a former madison world champion, believes having the two events on the Olympic program in Tokyo would be a huge opportunity for endurance riders like Cure.
“This is going to be more suited to bunch-race orientated riders and Tasmanians have grown up on that at Christmas carnivals, which gives them a definite advantage,” Gilmore told The Examiner.
Cure was well aware of the significance of winning the omnium and madison with national titles for both up for grabs over the next week.
“I was very happy with how I raced with limited training,” she said.
“My legs have definitely surprised me at this championship. I was a bit unsure how I was going after such a long break after Rio but that was always the plan, I just needed time off mentally and physically to prepare for the next four years.
"My goal going forward is to give this a really good crack now that it is a world championship event, so full steam ahead."
Edmondson added: "It's pretty cool that we took out the inaugural Oceania women's madison. It's been an important goal for us and now that we've got some points for us we should be getting an Aussie team up there."
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