IT was not the best timed sprint of her cycling career, but Kalinda Robinson's ability to sustain a high-intensity effort still led to her first road cycling national gold medal.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
As a lead bunch of 10 riders jostled for position in the final lap of the under 17 women's criterium at the Gold Coast based Junior Road National Championships, Robinson was watching her rivals.
Some 200 metres out from the line she made the decision to unleash her sprint. While admitting it was a little early, the acceleration which has been critical to so many of Robinson's track cycling success stories caught her rivals out.
"I sprinted a little bit earlier than I should have, but I managed to hold everybody off," the Bathurst Cycling Club and Western Region Academy of Sport talent said.
"People went and I panicked a bit and so I went when I should have waited, I would have been fine if I waited.
"I was fading a little bit across the line, if it had another 20 metres I might not have gotten there. I think I had a bike length on the next rider in the end."
The criterium gold came on the final day of the national titles, with Robinson forming part of the powerhouse New South Wales team.
She placed 14th in the individual time trial on Friday and 14th in the 50 kilometre road race on Saturday - both those events taken out by star Victorian rider Alyssa Polites.
"I was just more worried about finishing those two, especially in the road race it was about getting to the end unscathed. I wasn't really trying to focus on winning those," Robinson said.
"I tried to conserve a little bit of energy in the road race, but I still gave it my best shot. In the time trial I think I went nearly 100 percent, I thought that you always have a full day to recover before the next event, so there was no point just having a little ride, you might as well push as hard as you can."
Though producing solid rides in both those events, it was Sunday's criterium that Robinson had really targeted.
Having won silver in the same event last year, her plan to go one better in the 30 minutes plus two laps event was to sit in the bunch while her NSW team-mates marked moves and attacked themselves.
It was an aggressive race, but the NSW combination executed and Robinson won the sprint ahead of Polites.
"I was trying to see what they were doing, make sure no attacks got away and hopefully put myself in the right position in the end," Robinson said.
"There were a lot of attacks, it was nearly as soon as one attack was brought back in another one would go. Most of the time there was someone off the front, but I was sitting in the bunch and waiting for the sprint.
"My team-mates were really helpful and tried to get me into the best position that they could. I ended up at the front at just the right time, and pulled it all off."
The next assignment for Robinson will be on the track when she heads to Invercargill, New Zealand for the Oceania titles. It will be her first appearance at that level.
"I'm pretty excited, it should be really good. Even though it's a bit different [to road cycling] after that sprint win, yeah, it helps with confidence," she said.
The 2020 Oceania Track Championships run from October 16-19.
