Devonport’s Anya Louw has continued her rise up the ranks of Australian cycling after winning a silver medal on the final day of the Road National Championships in Ballarat on Tuesday.
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Competing in the combined elite/under 23 women’s time trial, Louw finished 10th overall, completing the 29.5-kilometre Buninyong course in 46:52.81, 4:17.8 behind overall winner Grace Brown.
But the Mersey Valley Devonport Cycling Club rider’s time was good enough for second place in the under 23 section, which was taken out by Sarah Gigante, the national road race champion from Sunday, in a time of 45:48.52.
Louw said the result, which comes on top of a bronze medal in Friday night’s criterium, came as somewhat of a shock given a lack of time trial practice and her inexperience in the under 23 ranks after stepping up from under 19s.
“I wasn’t going into the race with high expectations because I hadn't been doing too much time trial preparation and this was my first time in under 23s, but I was stoked with the outcome,” Louw said.
“When you take the pressure off yourself, you go into the race a lot more relaxed and not too worried about the result and I think that really helped me at these championships.”
Fellow TIS Women’s Racing Team members Nicole Frain and Ruby Roseman-Gannon crossed the line in 12th and 15th place overall, with Roseman-Gannon just missing out on a medal after ending the day in the under 23 section in fifth.
MVDCC rider Georgia O’Rourke came home in 21st overall and eighth in the under 23 category.
Former Circular Head rider Iven Bennett finished 20th in the men’s 29.5km elite time trial.