Gillow makes it three - another National ITT title for Queenslander

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Queensland's Shara Gillow has won the 2012 Women's Individual Time Trial Championship at Lake Wendouree over a distance of 29.2km. Gillow put in a dominant performance to capture her third national title with a gold medal-winning time of 38:56.59. Grace Sulzberger (Tas) claimed a silver medal ahead of new-comer to the sport Felicity Wardlaw (Vic) who spent time in the hot seat before eventually taking home bronze.

Former two-time winner, Carla Ryan (Vic) was first rider out of the start house, setting a time of 40.38.66. It took 21 riders to come through the start / finish line for Ryan's time to be bettered, with fellow Victorian Wardlaw the first rider under the 40-minute mark (39:57.23).

Orica-AIS' Tiffany Cromwell (SA) put in a solid performance to ride home in a time of 40:00.36 with her top form on show last week at the Mitchelton Bay Cycling Classic where she soloed to victory at Portarlington.Her time was good enough for fourth place.

Meantime out on the course, two-time defending champion Shara Gillow (Qld) rode past Taryn Heather (Vic) and former winner Bridie O'Donnell. Gillow was rocketing and completed her three-peat in style as she still had enough energy to sprint toward the finish line. The two-time Oceania time trial champion was elated with her third national TT title.

"It's an honour to win three-in-a-row," said Gillow at the finish. "It was a new course today, I love time trials either hilly or flat and it was a good day to give it a go. It was a good ride.

Gillow may have blitzed the women's national championship field but admitted she is still learning a lot in what will be here second year with the Orica-AIS squad. The 25-year-old finished 10th at the 2012 UCI Time Trial World Championships and says her aim is to continue progressing to a level of her former teammate Judith Arndt.

"My aim is [to be like] Judith Arndt. She's the world champion at the moment and just retired. She is the best in the world at the moment. European cycling is where it's at for us so hopefully I can keep getting better."

Second place Grace Sulzberger could do little to match the speed of Gillow but put in a valiant performance to capture second-place. The sister to Wes and Bernard missed-out on having her parents at the finish but the 24-year-old was looking on the bright side.

"I've definitely set the benchmark," noted Sulzberger. "Mum and dad unfortunately aren't here today, they arrive tomorrow. They said 'we won't worry about the time trial' but oh god, they should have been here!"

Third-place Wardlaw is a relative new-comer to the sport of cycling but showed a clear ability against the clock. The 35-year-old former triathlete and endurance mountain biker was surprised with her result however, her natural ability and tactical approach to the race was clearly spot-on for what was only her third competitive time trial.

"I was little bit nervous coming into this, not really knowing what to expect," said Wadlaw. "I came in without really high expectations but I knew what I had to sit on in terms of power wattage.

"If I could manage that and come out with a good result then even better. I'm stoked and looking forward to 2013. There's a lot to learn and plenty I can do for next time."

Results

* denotes U23 rider