An interview with Sara Carrigan

Olympic champ motivated for Madrid

Olympic road race champion Sara Carrigan lines out in today's elite women's time trial fired up by the chance of doing well. She has by her own admission had a quiet time since taking gold in Athens in August, her return to form after a long break moving slower than she anticipated. Shane Stokes reports.

"I guess I didn't really expect this," the chatty Australian told Cyclingnews on Tuesday evening. "I had a two and a half to a three-month break after the Olympics last year and it has taken a long time to build back up. But at the moment, this is actually the best form that I have felt all year, so I feel confident with that. It was also good to ride around the course today."

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Although Carrigan feels that her year has been somewhat quiet, she has nevertheless amassed some decent results. She finished as runner up in the Australian road race and time trial championships, while also taking silver in the pursuit champs on the track. Second places on stages of the Tour de L'Aude Feminin and the New Zealand women's Tour plus third on a stage and in the final overall classification of the Vuelta Ciclista Castilla y Leon Feminas are also very respectable results.

The 25 year-old is hopeful that she can ride well in Wednesday's race against the clock. "I feel confident and I am hoping for a good result. The last time trial I did was in May, so it is a little bit difficult to be 100% certain. But as I said, I am feeling good so I definitely think a strong result is possible."

Saturday's road race will also be a focus for her. The Australian team are yet to preview the course - "we will ride around the course together and then see what we think," she said - but she is similarly optimistic.

"I would definitely count the Aussies in," she states. "We have certainly got good form and a result is forthcoming now. So hopefully it will go well."

Click here for the full interview