Gold Coast Commonwealth Games gold medalist Alex Manly and prolific American title holder Colleen Gulick are two of the latest names to sign on for the the women’s cycling program at the upcoming Tasmanian Christmas Carnivals series.
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Manly, 22, who was a member of Australia’s triumphant Commonwealth Games pursuit team alongside the North-West Coast’s Amy Pauwels, also tasted success in the Under 23 road and time trial titles at the national road championships last year, so would be ideally suited to the criterium and track racing format of the carnivals.
Gulick, a dual American female rider of the year, has won five US track titles and a total of 43 national medals in the velodrome and on the road.
While Manly and Gulick have the capacity to snare a giant share of the $35,000 on offer for women’s races at the carnivals, they will not get an easy ride.
Australian Cycling Academy members Bree Hargrave, Maeve Plouffe, Alex Martin-Wallace and Samantha De Riter will likely make business tough for them.
Joining them will be regular internationals Sophie Leigh-Bloxham (New Zealand) and Winanda Spoor (the Netherlands), who are experienced Tassie competitors, as is Queensland’s Gaby Thomas.
Plouffe won the rich Devonport and Burnie Wheel races last year, and Hargrave was prominent throughout the seven-day series.