JUST when one big task gets taken care of, another shows up to take its place for Bathurst cyclist Hollee Simons.
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On Tuesday last week Simons completed the highest-profile road race event of her career at the Women’s Tour Down Under, and now she gets set to take on the Track Nationals in Melbourne starting today.
Simons (NSWIS) finished five minutes and 27 seconds behind winner Valentina Scandolara (Orica-GreenEDGE) at the Tour and 27 seconds behind Bathurst team-mate Kirsten Howard.
It’s a quick turnaround for Simons between events, but she is confident of a strong showing at the DISC Velodrome.
“At the Track Nationals I’ll feel like I’m back more within my league. In the Tour I feel a bit more like I’m at the bottom of the food chain. I’ll feel a lot more confident about myself this time,” she said.
“The team was awesome and lining up with those girls gave me a lot more confidence on the start line. I was impressed as well with how well the team was run ... It was a great environment to be a part of.”
Simons and her newly-formed NSWIS cycling team were taking on their first event as a group with the inaugural Women’s Tour Down Under.
She exceeded her expectations with strong performances coming her way, in particular over the first half of the event.
“It was a great experience. The first stage was really good because I only finished five minutes off the winner. The first criterium on the Sunday was also good because I managed to finish with the same time as the winner there,” she said.
“Unfortunately in the third race I had a mechanical, which was really disappointing because I was having the race of my life. I managed to get back onto the main bunch which I was really happy with.
“The fourth stage was really hard where half the bunch was pulled up. It came about not so much because of the pace but because of the wind. If you were caught in that back half then it was too difficult to get back.”
Today’s Track Nationals put Simons back into some more familiar territory.
Simons takes on the individual and team pursuit, scratch and points race at the Melbourne event representing NSW in the under 19s division.
“I’m hoping to do really well in the points race plus improve my time in the individual pursuit,” she said.
“The turnaround is a bit of a task. I’ve only been riding an hour each day to recover but my form is still there.”
