Buoyed by a career-best year, Australian cycling star Grace Brown will aim to make an early season statement next month at the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race.
The 30-year-old Melbourne rider has targeted the Deakin University women's race on January 28 as a key objective in the Australian summer and she is the first confirmed big-name starter.
Brown is coming off a banner 12 months highlighted by her Commonwealth Games gold medal in the time trial, followed by silver in the same discipline at the Wollongong world championships.
She also finished second at the Liege-Bastogne-Liege classic and was runner-up at the Women's Tour in England by just one second.
Her time trial results, especially, earmark Brown as a looming Australian medal hope at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
She will return to racing early next month, most likely at the Australian road championships in Ballarat.
Then Brown will make her World Tour racing comeback at Adelaide's Tour Down Under before heading to Geelong for the Cadel Evans race.
While the Corkscrew climb in the Adelaide Tour might put Brown out of overall contention there, she finished 10th at the Geelong race three years ago and fancies her chances.
"Maybe the Tour less so - Corkscrew is quite steep, maybe a little bit too steep for me," she said of her prospects.
"But this race, I've always had it pinned as a race that can suit me.
"This year I will come in with some objectives and the team will be behind me as their leader.
"Regardless of who comes over from Europe, the level is going to be high."
Those comments are music to the ears of Australia's only Tour de France winner Evans, who is heavily involved in the race named in his honour.
"Hearing Grace say that, she's suddenly gone up to the top of my list of sentimental favourites," Evans said.
It is no accident that an allrounder such as Brown can feel she has a chance in Geelong, with the race featuring solo wins as well as reduced sprints at the finish.
"We've put a lot of thought into the course, to have a race that's not only unpredictable, but also a race that's open to everyone," Evans said.
"That's the goal - to have a race that can be won by almost any kind of rider. That's worked so well."
The Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race is back after two years off because of COVID-19.
"A big relief - that's the biggest thing," he said.
"Everyone is just happy to get things started again and back to life as we knew it."
After her Australian sojourn, Brown will head to Europe and build up to the world road championships in Glasgow - with Paris 2024 also in her sights.
"Commonwealth gold and then silver at Wollongong - and the taste of actually being of the edge of taking rainbows there - it gives me the belief I can aim for Glasgow," she said.
"Of course, that's all in the path of going towards Paris 2024."
