Four years after winning the Australian road race championship and competing at the Olympics, star cyclist Amanda Spratt is timing her run perfectly again.
The 28-year-old captain of the powerful Orica-AIS team outsprinted fellow pocket rocket Ruth Corset to take out the 102km road race again at Buninyong, near Ballarat, on Sunday.
While Olympics selection is still months away, the win is a clear boost to Spratt's hopes of racing at her second Games.
"Certainly it's a really great way to start to the year," she said.
"The last couple of seasons I've been a bit more up and down but I've had a really solid block of training in the off-season.
"The Olympics is the really big goal and to start it off with a national title is really, really important - it puts me up up there."
Orica-AIS, the womens' arm of Orica-GreenEDGE, had a perfect day - Rachel Neylan won the sprint for third, two seconds behind Spratt and Corset.
Nationals time trial winner Kat Garfoot was fourth and Lizzie Williams took seventh.
It was also highly emotional, with Neylan in tears at the finish.
Her father Tony died four months ago of cancer.
"I think someone up above is really looking out (for me) and would be really happy with today," Neylan said.
"So it's pretty emotional - this one's for dad.
"Today I felt he was right there."
Spratt also dedicated her win to team director Martin Barras, who is in Canada after the sudden death of his father.
"The way our team is, we're like a family and he's been messaging us ... he's always keeping an eye on us," Spratt said of Barras.
"I know he'd be really proud."
The star-studded top 10 reflected a pulsating 10-lap race on the hilly Buninyong circuit.
Corset, who won the road race in 2010, is now a domestic rider.
She and her Total Rush teammates took it right up to Orica-AIS.
"There was nothing else I could have done - I'm really happy," Corset said.
Orica-AIS rider Sarah Roy joined NSW rider Louisa Lobigs in an early break that lasted well over half the race.
It was an ideal scenario for Orica-AIS because they had multiple options for the finish.
Eventually Corset and Spratt went clear on the last lap and Orica-AIS then controlled the chasing pack.
Lauren Kitchen was fifth and sixth was a big result for sprinter Chloe Hosking, who showed much-improved form on the climbs.
Tiff Cromwell again was in the top 10 at the nationals with eighth and defending champion Peta Mullens took ninth, while Jenelle Crooks' 10th placing gave her the under-23 title.
The women's race was moved from Saturday to Sunday, before the men's road race, to boost their TV coverage.
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