H o n d a

AMBAS SAD O R

simple joy
Like most of the worlds elite athletes in an Olympic year, Rochelle Gilmores life revolves around her medal-winning ambitions. But this is one cyclist who still loves every moment of the regime she puts herself through in pursuit of her dream.

ox Hill, Surrey may not be the worlds most daunting climb. But on July 29, for one young Australian, that green spot west of London is the peak she has to conquer. It may well become the pinnacle of a racing career that began in earnest in her early teens. Rochelle Gilmore is this countrys outstanding woman cyclist. Now 30, she is in the prime of her racing life, and in Olympic year she hopes to represent Australia in the womens road race a 140km ordeal that will take the field from the Mall outside Buckingham Palace out into the rolling Surrey countryside and back again. In the middle, they will complete two laps of a 9km climb near Box Hill which, she says, will be the key to her event.

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Ive seen the course, she told us in a telephone interview from her temporary base in Belgium. Its challenging, but it really suits my strength. That climb in the middle will be really challenging: you will have to be in the top 10 there to be in the game. In the game is exactly where Rochelle Gilmore has been pretty well ever since she first started BMX racing at the tender age of three, competing against her older brothers in the boys under-five category. I wanted to do everything they were doing and I also wanted to try and beat them, she recalls. I was definitely the most competitive: my attraction to sport was to win. Picked up at 13 as a potential Olympian in rowing, MTB, triathlon and cycling, Honda Ambassador Rochelle opted for the last one. Looking back on my options now, she says, Im so very content that I chose cycling. Its a wonderful pastime, sport, lifestyle and career. Id rather be doing nothing else. A professional rider for a decade now, she is unfazed by what, to outsiders, looks like the daily grind of an elite athletes life. There are times, she admits, when the workload of a professional athlete gets a little overwhelming and stressful, both physically and mentally. The only way to cope is to say Stop sometimes, say No sometimes and, as simple as that sounds, they are not two words that an elite athlete can execute easily.

Last year outside influences helped Rochelle say both of those small words. At the Giro dItalia she crashed on Stage 5. Her injuries, originally misdiagnosed, included two breaks to the pelvis that virtually immobilised her hell on earth, we imagined, for a woman used to being among the fastest in her sport? Not being able to move for a few weeks was mentally tough, she concedes. Not being able to attempt a step was frustrating not knowing if I could take a step was unbearable. I just wanted to try but I knew I had to wait. After a month passed my big day at the rehabilitation centre had arrived. I was able to attempt a step in the pool; like a baby anticipating that first step, I had a serious look of concentration on my face, I wanted to lean forward and lift my foot off the ground...

My physio was staring at me like a parent watching his or her child but something was stopping me. That something was the fear of failure. What if I crumbled? What if the pain was excruciating? In the end I took a step and stopped, then another, and another... and I was walking again. From there to the exercise bike, riding on rollers and getting back on the road was another set of hurdles. The thing about the type of fractures I had was that they didnt hurt on the bike but were still painful when I tried to walk. Even after I was able to ride 90km pain-free I was still on crutches out of the saddle. The toughest thing about my return to cycling was getting on and off the bike! I was unable to swing my leg over the saddle as usual: it took a lot of thinking, positioning and manoeuvring to get on and off without pain. So now its all about Olympic preparation, and thats where a lifetime in the saddle comes into play. Peaking at the right time involves experience, she says firmly. The race schedule needs to be based on a performance on the 29th of July: I respond well to racing, so I have a heavy schedule between now and June 12, which is the date the final team will be selected Ill race 25 days during the next nine weeks. How I train and recover between these race days is very important when

I dont actually need to find motivation, its just there. I just want to be stronger and faster so every day I work towards that
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considering a peak at the end of July. Ive based my next three months training and race program on the three-month block I completed leading into a winning performance at the 2010 Commonwealth Games with slightly more power climb training!

In pursuit of her Olympic dream, Rochelle has set aside some of the other roles she normally plays that of businesswoman in particular. Normally I am heavily involved in business activity, she explains. Im driven to succeed there as well. For the last few years I have been managing cycling teams as well as competing Im passionate about developing womens cycling. Im keen to help women in a proper professional environment. I want to get women onto bikes, help them step up into a professional career, create the infrastructure around womens cycling that simply didnt exist in Australia until recently. Job offers come along regularly, but there is no end in sight yet to the challenges posed by Rochelles cycling career. She does concede that commentating tempts her shes had a crack at it under the watchful eye of the man whose voice is synonymous with the sport, Phil Liggett and she is developing her own clothing line as a spin-off from her success in the saddle. For 2012, though, Gilmore the businesswoman comes second to Rochelle the cyclist, whos not accustomed to coming second to many people. The cyclist everyone has been coming second to in recent times, though, is a Dutch girl by the name of Marianne Vos. An Olympic gold medallist already, a world champion in both cyclocross and road racing, Vos will be a strong and confident 25 going to London. Shes won the first two World Cups of the season, and to beat Marianne at the moment Id say youd have to be lucky shes got to make a mistake for that to happen, her Australian adversary concedes. But if preparation and passion as well as sheer talent count for

RG and Honda

START / FINISH: The Mall

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Professional athletes can feel lonely, says Rochelle Gilmore. But it only takes a moment to consider all the people who follow and support us to realise were not alone. Honda Australia is among those followers and supporters in a relationship that began a few years at Victorias Herald Sun Tour. Rochelle approached the company with an idea for sponsorship and the Dream Team was born. Rochelle Gilmore is a true Aussie role model and an inspiration to female cyclists around the country, said Honda Australias Senior Director Lindsay Smalley when he confirmed last year that the company would continue its backing for the 2010 Elite Road Cyclist of the Year and Commonwealth Games gold medallist. Cycling is a great fit with Hondas core values of sustainability and road safety. Our support for Rochelle satisfies our thirst for competition at the highest level. Since 2011 Honda has supported me individually as a Honda Ambassador, she explains. Hondas support has helped me reach many goals in the past and I am thrilled to have their support as I strive for London. Honda Europe is also title sponsor of my European team. One great thing about it is that I get to drive any Honda I want! At the moment I have a CR-V and its the perfect, practical vehicle for what I do.

Fulham Putney Richmond

Twickenham Kingston Upon Thames Hampton Court Palace Weybridge Esher

LO N D O N 2 0 1 2 O Ly M P I C Cy C L I N G ROAD RACE
TOTAL DISTANCE: Women 140km approx Men 250km approx

Woking

Leatherhead Guildford

Box Hill Dorking

anything, Rochelle Gilmore will be in Olympic contention at the end of July. I dont actually need to find motivation, she says, its just there. I just want to be stronger and faster so every day I work towards that. This year there is that extra motivation of representing Australia in London, but that doesnt necessarily mean motivation to train, it could mean the exact opposite to stop or say No when necessary. Punishing sessions might be hard to start but wow, the feeling once you complete one is amazing! That smacks of addiction which Rochelle readily acknowledges. We reminded her of a recent observation by that fine sportswriter Simon Barnes of The Times: We first come to sport in joy, he wrote, for the sweet whiff of flight. But as Olympians reach for the highest level of achievement, the simple joy of doing it gets lost. Not for this Olympian. Daily life without the escape of cycling is The Grind. Training and competition give me my highs in life, says Rochelle. All the other stuff that fills in the hours and days is The Grind. Riding, training and competing is, in those two words, simple joy.

Top to bottom: focal point the 2012 Olympic road race course; a moments respite from the punishing regime; and Dutch courage Marianne Vos, the young Netherlands cyclist they will all have to beat in July.