IN her first year as a para cyclist, Alana Forster has become Track World Champion.<\/p>\n
The FedUni WestVic Academy of Sport athlete won the C5 women\u2019s scratch race title at the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships in Glasgow, Scotland last month.<\/p>\n
Forster\u2019s WestVic Academy coach Cam Mcfarlane described the velodrome race as an \u201cabsolute cracker.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were quite a few attempts at riders stealing victory,\u201d he said. \u201cWith five laps to go, and a bit of a lull, Alana made her bold move.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll of a sudden, there was a classic feeling of will she, won\u2019t she stay away. She got roughly half a lap in front, which is significant.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone was coming at her at a great gallop. It was so exciting. Fortune favours the brave.\u201d<\/p>\n
Forster not only performed on the track at the World Championships, but on the road, where she placed second in the time trial.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe World Championships included all cycling disciplines, so it gave Alana the chance to be on the track and on the road,\u201d Mcfarlane said.<\/p>\n
\u201cKnowing her as an athlete and a person, I feel so happy for Alana. If you put in the work, your results hit the markers.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
But in March of last year, Forster broke her pelvis, femur, patella, ulna bones, and ribs in a car accident.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The WestVic Academy program aims to help Forster reach her full potential, and support the work she does with Australian paracycling coach, Nick Owen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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\u2019s scratch race title at the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships in Glasgow, Scotland last month. Forster\u2019s WestVic Academy coach Cam Mcfarlane described the velodrome race as an \u201cabsolute cracker.\u201d […]<\/p>\n