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2015 couldn't have started on a
stronger note for Tori Saunders who would earn gold in the team
and silver in the individual pursuit at the Australian
National Championships. The results impressed
selectors with Saunders names in the Australian team for the
2015 UCI Junior Track World Championships in Astana,
Kazakhstan.
The experience of competing at the Junior World Championships
differs greatly rider to rider and despite illness Saunders
was part of the silver medal winning team in the team pursuit.
With illness forcing her out of round one and the final
Saunders had mixed emotions. "There was also the feeling there
that I didn't deserve to hop up on the second step of the
podium and receive a silver medal as I didn't ride the second
round and the final," Saunders said.
Following the highs and lows of competing on the world stage
it was a hard return as Saunders left her bikes in the box for
a month as she wanted to be in her own words a 'normal
teenager' and finish high school.
Having missed selection in the team for the 2016 UCI Junior
Track World Championships Saunders is turning her attention to
the Australian National Road Series in 2016 before hoping to
impress as an elite rider on the track in 2017.
My cycling journey over the last 12 months has been filled
with many ups and downs, from winning silver in the team
pursuit at the UCI Junior Track World Championships in
Kazakhstan in 2015 to then not making the Junior Worlds team
again for 2016.
Back in January last year, leading up to Track Nationals for
2015 I was probably in the best form that I have ever been –
and I was hungry for success. I had been preparing myself
under the guidance of my coach, Mick Kejda, for this event
since September 2014, as I so desperately wanted to be named
in the Australian team for Junior Worlds in 2015.
The first day of Nationals for me was IP day, and I remember
waking up and doing a pre start on the rollers and feeling
great, I knew I had a good chance of medalling. I was in the
last heat of riders so going into the race I knew that I would
have to do the best time I'd ever ridden to make the gold
medal ride off – and I did. I left absolutely nothing out
there on the track, for the last two laps I was honestly
seeing stars from pushing myself so hard. It took me about a
lap after I had finished the IP to even realise that I had
qualified second and would be riding off for gold. I ended up
with a silver medal but was over the moon, as it was my first
individual national medal on the track.
Two weeks later, it was a Wednesday afternoon and I got a call
from Rik Fulcher [Cycling Australia National Junior
Coordinator] to tell me I was part of the team that would be
racing at Junior Worlds in Astana, Kazakhstan in August 2015.
I was so overwhelmed with emotions as it was something I had
worked so hard for.
Going into the second camp, I had already been away from home
for two weeks and I had been living in Wollongong so I could
train on an indoor velodrome and have better access to my
coach. The second camp in Adelaide was one of the hardest
blocks of training I'd ever done. Some days we would have two
track sessions – something at this point I'd never done
before. After being in Adelaide for two weeks it was time to
go over to Kazakhstan and show the world what the Aussie
Junior Track Team for 2015 was made of.
The day before racing started we were told what events we were
going to be racing. For me it was the team pursuit and the
individual pursuit, which I was happy about, as these were the
races that I wanted.
The team pursuit was held over the first two days of racing,
but I was only given a ride in the first round. The night
before racing began, I actually became quite sick and was up
and down all night and didn't feel well at all. This really
affected the way I rode in the first round, not being able to
ride to the standard that I should have, so the decision was
made that I would sit out of the team pursuit on the second
day.
Although I tried hard not to show it, it was something
that I really struggled with as I had basically spent the last
six months working towards this. I was devastated. The
Australian team ended up getting second and while being proud
of the girls who rode the second round and the final and so
pleased that I had also been apart of this team in the first
round, there was also the feeling there that I didn't deserve
to hop up on the second step of the podium and receive a
silver medal as I didn't ride the second round and the final.
I raced again on the third day of Junior Worlds in the
individual pursuit, I still wasn't feeling very well but I
seemed to race a lot better than on the first day of
competition. I rode the second fastest time I have ridden to
date and felt quite strong in the back end of the race. I
placed eighth and was happy enough with that, but what was
most present in my mind was going home.
Somewhere six months between making the team and finally going
over to Kazakhstan and racing at Junior Worlds seemed to go on
forever and I think somewhere along the way, Junior Worlds
and the training required became something I had to do and was
expected to do, rather than something that I enjoyed doing.
Even though this was the case Junior Worlds has probably been
the best experience of my life, and I was able to learn so
much in the two camps that were held leading up to Junior
Worlds. I was able to make some really great friends that I
didn't have before and I'm so grateful to have been given the
opportunity.
Feeling the way I did towards training really impacted my
results at Track Nationals this year. After I got home from
Junior Worlds I didn't even unpack my bikes for over a month,
they just stayed in the box. All I wanted to do was be a
'normal' teenager finishing high school, and that's exactly
what I did. I really didn't start training properly again
until mid November when I went down to Wollongong to train. I
lived in Wollongong up until Track Nationals and put in a lot
of hard work in the two months leading up to Track Nationals.
Coming into Track Nationals I knew I wasn't as fit as I
probably needed to be if I wanted to make the Junior Worlds
team again this year. I did the fastest time I've ridden all
year in the IP, but I knew that it wasn't enough to make this
year's team. Not being selected for a second year was a little
disappointing but I have been fortunate enough to be able to
experience a Junior World Championships and represent my
country, something not a lot of people get to do.
For the remainder of the year I'll be switching my focus onto
some NRS races while completing my Cert III and IV in fitness.
Next year I'll be aiming to come back stronger on the track
and hopefully put down some solid times for my first year in
the elite ranks and show the selectors what I have to offer. I
look forward to see what the future has in store for me.
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