Cyclist claims track world title

IN her first year as a para cyclist, Alana Forster has become Track World Champion.

The FedUni WestVic Academy of Sport athlete won the C5 women’s scratch race title at the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships in Glasgow, Scotland last month.

Forster’s WestVic Academy coach Cam Mcfarlane described the velodrome race as an “absolute cracker.”

“There were quite a few attempts at riders stealing victory,” he said. “With five laps to go, and a bit of a lull, Alana made her bold move.

“All of a sudden, there was a classic feeling of will she, won’t she stay away. She got roughly half a lap in front, which is significant.

“We were all on the edge of our seats in the middle of the night screaming at the television, and she hung on by about 10 metres, which was wonderful.

“Everyone was coming at her at a great gallop. It was so exciting. Fortune favours the brave.”

Forster not only performed on the track at the World Championships, but on the road, where she placed second in the time trial.

“The World Championships included all cycling disciplines, so it gave Alana the chance to be on the track and on the road,” Mcfarlane said.

“Knowing her as an athlete and a person, I feel so happy for Alana. If you put in the work, your results hit the markers.”

Before 2022, she cycled at an international level as an able-bodied athlete, becoming triple masters national champion in 2020, and a most competitive awardee in the Tour Down Under 2021.

But in March of last year, Forster broke her pelvis, femur, patella, ulna bones, and ribs in a car accident.

After 12 months off the bike, she returned to her chosen sport as a para athlete and became C4 road race champion at the RoadNats in Ballarat in January.

The WestVic Academy program aims to help Forster reach her full potential, and support the work she does with Australian paracycling coach, Nick Owen.