But after spending six months racing the roads of Europe with Dutch outfit Maaslandster Nicheliving CCN, Howard returned to Australia and earned such an award in a round of the National Road Series.

Howard attacked on the second day of the recent King of the Valley Tour and while she was unable to hold on for the win, she picked up a top 10 placing and the most aggressive rider of the day award.

Her confidence to attack came from riding in large pelotons in Europe.

“Having to move around in a bunch of 180 to 200 – it was quite good to use that skill at home. It wasn’t as intimidating as it used to be,” Howard said.

“I did feel when I got back into the bunch here in Australia that I wasn’t as nervous. Well I was still nervous, but I felt a lot more confident in the bunch, that I could get to the front and position myself better.

“I wasn’t in peak form, but I was quite happy to come away with something like that. I had never raced that aggressively until I went to Europe, I was more a reactive, timid type rider.

“But I learned from being over there that sometimes those moves don’t come off, sometimes they get caught and sometimes they don’t. But you have to throw your hat in the ring, you never know if you don’t try.”

Learning how to ride in a larger bunch and gaining the confidence to attack was not the only positive to come from Howard’s overseas stint.

She saw just what it takes to make it as a professional rider and got to test herself against some of the best female road cyclists in the world.

“You go there and the girls who you are lining up against have spent years and years getting better at cycling and what they do. It’s is hard to compare a handful of months to their entire lives,” she said.

“You are racing the best in the world, the girls have been to the Olympics, and even at the club level they are used to having that many people around them and the wind and cobbles – they have grown up with that.

“It’s definitely shown me how hard it is to get there … it’s another world with those girls. I can see how far ahead the road is now – it was an eye-opener.”