Champ Chloe Hosking shifts down gear for Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race with relaxed approach

Chloe Hosking returns to defend her Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race crown but doesn’t expect to be flying in Geelong on January 26 despite going in with a nothing-to-lose attitude.

She may have proved the doubters wrong by winning January’s Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, but even Chloe Hosking isn’t sure about her chances in next month’s edition.

Hosking is back to defend the crown she emphatically seized on the Geelong waterfront at the start of the year.

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In a blazing summer, Hosking won Cadel’s, was third in the Jayco Herald Sun Tour and won a stage at the Tour Down Under before snaring Commonwealth Games gold in April.

But don’t expect the same blitz from the Australian sprinter in the new year.

“It’s been a very different approach, actually,” Hosking said of her preparation.

“Last November we picked the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race and said, ‘We want to win this’, because it was an automatic qualification for the Commonwealth Games.

“It’s a race I love. It’s such a dynamic race and Australia’s answer to a European spring classic. Also, a lot of people were saying it’s too hard for a sprinter to win, including my team director, and I just ­wanted to prove them wrong.”

Chloe Hosking during the women's road race. Picture: Getty Images

But Hosking admitted the early-season form spike took a toll and, without the Commonwealth Games as a target, it isn’t a program she will repeat.

“I definitely paid the price at the back-end of the season by targeting the summer so hard,” she said.

“My season tapered off ­because it’s really hard to hold your form for that long. So I’m having a much more relaxed approach to the summer.”

Which means Hosking won’t be flying in Geelong on January 26 but goes in with a nothing-to-lose attitude.

“It doesn’t mean I won’t have a crack at Cadel’s, but I might need to be a bit more crafty because I won’t be as fit,” she said.

Chloe Hosking says she doesn’t expect to be flying in Geelong on January 26 but goes in with a nothing-to-lose attitude.

“Teams also now know if they don’t start the fireworks earlier, riders like myself can get over it (the Challambra Crescent climb) within striking distance.

“So I think you’ll see the race get harder, earlier and a smaller group will come to the bottom (of the final climb).

“But I don’t wipe myself out of contention … every season I get stronger and even though I’m not going full gas like last year I still feel really good on the bike.”

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Originally published as Champ Chloe Hosking shifts down gear for Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race with relaxed approach