Alana Field’s national cycling triumph

In a golden finish to Alana Field's winter road season, she snared two championship victories at the Road National Championships. 127446 Picture: JARROD POTTER

By JARROD POTTER

ALANA Field powered over the hills and pedalled past the competition to snare a pair of Australian titles.
Field, 14, from Berwick, defended her criterium victory at the Cycling Australia JR17/JR15 Road National Championships – held this year in Toowoomba – over the weekend and added to her burgeoning trophy case with a second gold medal in the road race.
A steep course and an early breakaway in the road race left Field and the peloton trailing, but she worked her way into a secondary breakaway and the six-person group managed to close the gap.
To end the 34-kilometre race was an uphill sprint to the line that suited Field – the 2014 Australian Junior Mountain Climb Champion – perfectly.
She burst out of the pack and out-sprinted Queenslander Courtney Patterson on the line for the narrow victory.
“It’s a big achievement and I was very happy to win that race,” Field said.
“It was a very hilly course – I’m a really good hill climber and that’s what I think I’m suited to and I was lucky to get that course.”
“In the end it was a sprint finish up the hill and I was good enough to out-sprint everyone – I was sitting on one of the Queenslander’s wheels and came around her and versed off against Courtney Patterson to win the race.”
Field followed up her road race victory with another hard slog in the criterium – as she had to negate a lot of attacks from the pack across the shortened race.
Once again an uphill finish gave Field the advantage and despite shutting down the rest of the peloton for most of the race, she managed to sprint her way to a second gold medal for the meet and defend her criterium title.
“Last year I won the criterium and it was great to race it again and keep the gold medal and now I’ve won it two years in a row,” Field said.
“I was excited, happy and joyful – it was very good to win it again.”
Field also finished fifth in the time trial and was pleased with her personal improvement and a top-10 finish in that event.
With winter road season drawing to a close, Field will get some much needed time off before setting her focus on track – with the National Junior Track Series her next challenge.
She wanted to thank her family, her coach Hilton Clarke, Victorian team mates and bicycle sponsor FELT Bicycles for their support.