Cromwell cream of the crop in Portarlington

Honda Women's Team rider Tiffany Cromwell made it another day to remember for the squad captained by overall leader Rochelle Gilmore at the Jayco Bay Cycling Classic second round in Portarlington yesterday.

Whilst Gilmore won the opening round of the Classic in Geelong's Eastern Park the previous day, Cromwell achieved what she told Cyclingnews she had set out to do before the start - go for the break and try to convert it into a win.

"I felt good and the team said I could help myself in today's stage so I went for it," said Cromwell. "Alex Carle was a good break companion but when Lauren [Kitchen] came across I was a little bit worried because I then had two AIS riders with me.

"I went for it and got a gap after the second [intermediate] sprint and the Honda girls controlled the bunch really well behind me."

Cromwell's preparation for the Jayco Bay Cycling Classic was slightly unorthodox in comparison to her teammates and competitors - she spent time in the US snowboarding and riding two cyclo-cross races, something to which most Australian riders are unaccustomed as preparation for the upcoming season.

"This is my first set of criteriums for the Australian summer," the 20-year-old South Australian explained. "I've been doing a bit of cross-training over the off-season. I did some cyclo-cross, which I wasn't very good at but all the mud we rode through seems to have made me stronger. And the snowboarding seems to have worked, too.

"I've started working with a new coach - Dave McPartland - and that has been good so far, too."