Brave, adventurous and determined are the three words that come to my mind after my chat with champion cyclist, Chloe Hosking.
Having won a bronze medal at the 2012 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, living in her own apartment in Spain and being a strong advocate of women in cycling, the Canberra born cyclist has achieved a lot for a 21 year old woman.
Hosking put her feet on a pair of pedals for the first time when she 12 years old after she received an injury from field hockey. She now rides four hours every single day when she is training.
“I was one of those really active kids that always had to be moving; I’m not entirely sure how my parents put up with me. So when I got injured and couldn’t really get rid of all my energy, it was a bit of a problem.
“Dad has always been really into cycling so I just asked him if he could set me up on a bike. He couldn’t get me on one fast enough and I’ve been riding ever since.”
From waking up at 6am every morning before school to participate in ‘sprint sessions’ with her dad around Lake Burley Griffin, Hosking has come a long way. She never thought she would answer the question ‘so what do you do?’ with ‘I’m actually a professional cyclist’. It was always something she enjoyed, but this hobby turned into more of a career in 2009 when she took herself off to Europe and went to race with a Dutch club team, Moving Ladies.
Winning some pretty big races, Hosking ranked 16th in the world by the end of the year with the Moving Ladies. She was only 18 and the only person under the age of 20 in the top 20 cyclists in the world. With that huge achievement under her belt, she was recruited by what was then the biggest and most successful women’s cycling team in the world, HTC Columbia (now known as Specialized Luluemon) and she has been racing with them ever since.
Winning a bronze medal at the 2012 Commonwealth Games was definitely a career highlight for the young and talented cyclist, as well as an experience.
“The first evening we arrived in India, we didn’t have any power in our apartment. We let management know and within a few minutes it seemed like we had a small army in our apartment trying to get the power back on!
“Another funny story is one of the other cyclists came into their room to find the cleaner brushing their teeth with their toothbrush. I think India and all the volunteers and workers who made those games happen did a great job. I’m glad I was able to have that experience.”
It wasn’t just the experience that blew Hosking away. Standing on the podium receiving her bronze medal, next to her teammate who took first place was ‘spine tingling’ as Hosking recalls.
“Listening to the National Anthem being played and watching the Australian flag being raised was a pretty special moment. I’ll admit that I was a little teary, I’m always filled with pride when I pull on the green and gold.”
Hosking is passionate about getting more women on bikes. She says she races with so many talented, driven women who she doesn’t feel get the recognition they deserve.
The young cyclist is fortunate enough to be on a women’s team that have sponsors who are excited about it and committed to women’s cycling. According to Hosking, there is definitely a gap between what it means to be a professional male cyclist and what it means to be a professional female cyclist, but that every year, the sport is becoming more professional, new and more enthused sponsors are coming on board.
“If the sport keeps going in this direction and the support comes from higher up the food chain, I think the gap can be closed, at least a little.
“I’m only young and I haven’t achieved a tenth of what some of the women in the peloton have achieved but in the future I would love to act as a spokesperson for the women’s peloton; trying to encourage sponsors into the sport and initiate a much needed change.”
Based in Girona, Spain, Hosking could not see herself being based anywhere else. She does a lot of travelling and absolutely loves it. Although, she does miss her family and her dogs a lot. And the thing she misses the most about Canberra are the variety of restaurants.
“Living in Spain, there’s not a lot of variety other than pizza and rice. I love that in Canberra you can have Thai, Turkish, Indian, Vietnamese, Mediterranean any night of the week. The coffee is also great!”
The biggest thing coming up on the cards; the 2012 Olympic Games. The team has yet to be announced but Hosking has made the long team and is currently the highest ranked Australia in the world (12th). At the World Championships in Copenhagen late last year, she came 6th and just last week she won a race in the Netherlands (Drentse 8) against the World Champion, Giorgia Bronzini, and the world number one ranked ride, Marianne Vos. These two wins are big steps in regards to cementing her in the final selection.
“My entire family have already booked their accommodation and flights to London though, so the pressure is on! Although mum tells me if I don’t make the team, there is always room on their couch for me.”
Head shot by Brian Hodes, Riding shot by Velodramati
