Photo ©Velofocus
Resetting and refocusing has been the theme of the last few weeks for Tiffany Cromwell as the last phase of the 2016 season rolls into view. “The season is longer this year with the world championships in Qatar being not until mid October due to the heat in the Arabian desert, and I still have objectives I’m working towards in the final weeks of the season.” Tiff has been racing since she clinched a bronze medal in the national individual time trial championships in Australia back in January. “It’s really important for me as an athlete to be able to break up the season and program in a couple of rest periods throughout the season. This gives me the mind space and motivation to work really hard when I get back into a training block to be able to focus fully on my next target/peak. After the Prudential Ride London Classique I enjoyed a short reset period and then moved into a new block of training followed by a couple of one-day races with my Canyon//SRAM team. All of my training and racing is now targeted towards the world championships and being in peak condition come Mid-October.”
Tiffany raced the last 3 rounds of the UCI Women’s World Tour in Vargarda, Sweden and Plouay, France to kick start this final racing block of the season. “It was great to finally have the opportunity to race the team time trial in Vargarda with the team. I have raced the road race numerous times that takes place two days later but it was the first time since 2011 that I’ve done the team time trial. We didn’t have our most experienced team there due to some of our riders having a break after the Olympics, but we put in a good performance to finish 4th and there was a lot we could take away from it and learn from. For the team it was the starting point for the TTT as the focus on the discipline now really begins to ramp up towards the world championships where we are aiming for the world title. I would love to ride the TTT at the worlds in Qatar but I know I still have some work to do personally if I want to get selected for our team. My performance in Sweden gave me some confidence that I am improving a lot in the discipline and the contribution I can bring to the team.”
The road race in Vargarda and GP Plouay-Bretagne the following week saw a break away and a selection fight it out for the finish in both races. For Canyon//SRAM they had Hannah Barnes represent in the break in Vargarda putting in a strong performance up front and Elena Cecchini sprinted to a fine 2nd place in Plouay. Tiff looked for her opportunities in the races and played a support role to her teammates where she could. “We had pretty open plans to give everyone an opportunity and then gave full support to those who ended up in the break when the situation was good for us. It’s always nice being part of a strong team performance and seeing your team mates on the podium at the finish puts the icing on the cake.”
Next on the program for Tiff are two races she is aiming for strong results in. Lotto Belgium Tour and Chrono Champenois. “With few races left on the program it’s always nice for the confidence to get some late season results but it’s also important too, to show that I’m fit and in form to be selected for the world championships. Lotto Belgium Tour is my style of racing, the ‘classics’ style of tough, technical and tactical so I can’t wait to have some fun out there and see what we can do.”
Chrono Champenois has been a happy hunting ground for Tiff as she took second place last season. “It was initially a surprise to see this race show up on my program as it wasn’t in my original race plan but I’m quite happy to be going back to this race. It’s a long individual time trial, probably the longest we do all season and it’s a really good indicator of your form. A strong result here requires good power, endurance and strong mental concentration for hard efforts. I’m excited to see what I can do this time around!”
So with plenty to be motivated for, Tiff starts to build up to the season end with the final race hopefully being in Qatar. “This year Australia has a realistic chance at the world title being a sprinter friendly course. We have Chloe Hosking who has proven this year that she is one of the fastest finishers in the world, it’d be nice to be apart of the team that can help achieve this.”
You can keep track of Tiffany’s last part of the season on twitter and don’t forget to watch her instagram feed for lots of photos about her travels, her cooking and her love of fashion – @tiffanycromwell.
Tiffany Cromwell 