Edmondson returns to top cycling form

Australian Annette Edmondson has been too fast for her sprint rivals to claim victory in the Race Melbourne at Albert Park.

Olympic cyclist Annette Edmondson

Australian cycling star Annette Edmondson has taken out the Race Melbourne criterium. (AAP)

Australian cycling star Annette Edmondson continues to show that her health scare of late last year is ancient history.

Edmondson's win on Thursday at Race Melbourne means she is enjoying her best start to a road season.

It follows her stage-one win at the women's Tour Down Under in Adelaide earlier this month.

Edmondson is also buoyant about her selection chances on the track for the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.

The 26-year-old Wiggle Honda rider is an Olympian and a world champion on the track, as well as boasting strong road credentials.

But she had to cut her road season short last year and return to Australia because of thyroid problems.

"I had a bit of a rough end to 2017 ... that's been a blessing in disguise, because it really motivated me to put down the road k's and train really hard," she said.

"(I've also) really stepped back up into the track program, because I was on the outside of making the (Commonwealth Games) team.

"I'm really happy to finally feel good and get a couple of wins."

Edmondson expects to find out in the next few days whether she has made the cut for April's Commonwealth Games.

In the meantime, she is in a rich vein of form on the road.

She beat Italian star Georgia Bronzini (Cylance) and American Kendall Ryan (Tibco) when Thursday's 63.6km criterium at Albert Park predictably ended in a bunch sprint.

Edmondson threw her bike at the line to hold off Bronzini, but initially no one knew who had prevailed in the tight finish.

"Sometimes they've come off well and sometimes they haven't, so I didn't have the confidence to salute," Edmondson said.

"I saw Bronzini coming up under my arm and I thought 'oh my God, I've got to try a little bit more'.

"It was all down to the throw, for sure. If I hadn't done that, she would have gotten me."

It is also a very good month for the Edmondson family, with younger brother Alex winning the national road race title at Ballarat.

While that was a major scalp, big sister now has two wins to his one.

"He's going to have to step up his game now," she said.

Pre-race favourite Chloe Hosking finished fourth and fellow Australian sprinter Sarah Roy was eighth.


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Source: AAP


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