Neylan gunning for Australian national road title

Image 1 of 4

After finishing so close on so many occasions Rachel Neylan will be hoping that the stars align for her on Sunday in the women’s national road race. The Orica-AIS rider finished second last year but is highly motivated to secure her first national road title in what will be an extremely competitive race.

"I am really, really happy being back racing in Australia in front of Australian crowds, I love Ballarat, that’s no secret and it’s also no secret that its been an extraordinary tough few months with my dad passing away four months ago. I bounced back for Worlds three weeks after my dad’s death so that’s been a pretty massive rollercoaster for me. He was a huge supporter for my cycling career so just holding that in my heart pretty proudly and just really, really happy to be backing racing on Australian soil for the first time ever in Orica colours. I  was motivated when I put on the green and gold in Richmond straight afterwards, my dad gave me a lot of inspiration and a lot of freedom. He’s been one of my best mates and totally supported my whole cycling career from the word go so that’s a huge motivation tomorrow.

“It’s my first national championships with a full team and couldn’t be more excited to have a hit out on Buninyong with these girls, who have already proved that they are in extraordinarily good form. There is a significant number of us who can win the race tomorrow so that’s a really, really exciting factor for us tomorrow".