Future debates on the subject deserve to place her name alongside those of Clark, Porte, Goss, Grenda, Gilmore ... and Grenda and Gilmore again.

In her gender, she has taken a lap on all rivals, with only Rio Olympic roommate Georgia Baker a realistic chance to catch her.

Even nationally, Cure only really has one standout adversary.

Asked to name the country's best ever female cyclist, most Australian sport fans would plump for Anna Meares, and rightly so.

However, in terms of world championship medals won, sitting second behind the high-profile household name from Queensland is the endurance specialist from the back roads of North-West Tasmania who burst onto the sport as a shy teenager and left it as a multiple world and Commonwealth champion.

Cure's retirement announcement on Friday surprised few who have followed her journey.

More than 20,000 Instagram followers have become as accustomed to posts from the six-time auntie enjoying babysitting duties as they have the three-time world champion on the demands of elite cycling.

The age of 27 may sound young to be calling time, especially with a third Olympic qualification secured, but it is necessary to factor into that judgement how early Cure began riding and how long she has spent in the saddle.

When she was living in Belgium, Cure used the tradie skills learned from father Graeme to build a 2m by 4m framed board with a foam backing in which she placed a map of the world.

She began putting pins in each country she had visited while also compiling a list of individual cities. Upon completion, she had multiple entries for nearly every letter of the alphabet and every continent accounted for bar Africa and Antarctica.

She must have felt a long way from West Pine (population 138, according to the 2016 census).

Recalling the journey last week, Cure said she had only ever been on one holiday without her bike. "It was just a few days in Bali and it's one of the best holidays I've ever had."

Born on New Year's Eve, 1992, meant Cure spent her early years perpetually competing against rivals up to a year older.

Cutting her teeth at the myriad track events on the Sports Carnivals Association of Tasmania program was perfect preparation for the contrasting demands of endurance contests ranging from the isolation of the individual pursuit - in which she would become a world record holder - to the claustrophobia of the points race - in which she would become a world champion.

In addition to four junior world titles and 10 national, Cure became the only rider in world championship history to medal in six different events - points race (gold 2014), scratch race (silver 2015), madison (silver 2019, bronze 2017), omnium (bronze 2017), individual pursuit (silver 2013; bronze 2014 and '15) and team pursuit (gold 2015 and '19, silver 2013 and '17, bronze 2014).

Saying the achievement gives her immense pride, Cure added: "But when you are so focused on winning you view it as a disappointment to come second or third. I think I've got 13 world championship medals but only three gold and the elite athlete in me is disappointed not to have more."

After his daughter claimed bronze and silver medals at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Graeme cheekily observed that there was only one left to complete the set.

Amy kept him waiting four years but then delivered a golden double with victories in the scratch race and team pursuit on the Gold Coast.

Having reached the pinnacle at world championship and Commonwealth Games level, the Olympics will forever remain an unscratched itch.

Qualifying for three, she was denied a ride as a raw 19-year-old in London, crashed heavily along with her teammates on the eve of competition in Rio and withdrew from Tokyo following its COVID-19-enforced postponement.

Three continents, three vastly different but ultimately fruitless outcomes - although considering the extent of the squad's injuries, fifth place in Rio was a commendable result.

A glimpse of the locations for some of those successes gives an insight into the travel demands upon such an athlete - as well as a 2x4m pinboard in Antwerp.

Geography testers such as Cali, Minsk, Yvelines and Pruszkow are randomly scattered among more familiar places like Hong Kong, London, Glasgow, Moscow, Berlin and Los Angeles.

And throughout this globe-trotting, Tasmania was never forgotten.

The Devonport Carnival committee will find it as hard to adjust to a cycling program without Cure starting from scratch as it will to not hearing commentator Steve Daley screaming the phrase "power to pedal".

Cure became a perennial finalist in the Tasmanian athlete of the year award, and winner in 2015.

Her fellow 2019 team pursuit gold medallist Baker, 1988 Olympic hockey gold medallist Maree Fish, 2006 basketball world champion Hollie Grima and Rebecca Van Asch - a pairs (2012), triples and fours (2016) bowls world champion - have all conquered their sporting worlds as team members along with rowers Kerry Hore, Kate Hornsey, Dana Faletic and Sarah Hawe.

However, given her global triumph as an individual as well as a team member, a strong argument could be made that Amy Cure is Tasmania's most successful sportswoman.