Two-time Australian National Road Race champion Gracie Elvin has labelled criticism of her team Orica-Scott "unfair" ahead of the annual race in Ballarat on Sunday.
Rivals have criticised the event as a one-horse race and believe the annual championships should be raced in state teams, with Orica-Scott having dominated in recent years.
Canberra cyclist Gracie Elvin has labelled criticism of Orica-Scott unfair ahead of Australian National Road Race titles. Credit:Elesa Kurtz
Riders believe the size of the Orica-Scott team creates an unfair advantage against those competing as individuals or in smaller teams.
"It's an argument that comes up every year but if you look at it critically our team is no bigger than the three or four other teams who race at capacity," Canberra product Elvin said.
"We usually only have five or six in the race, we're not coming in with 10 like the men, we're just the strongest because we're the only professional team.
"Most of the year when we're racing overseas people are big fans of the Orica team so I think it's unfair to say that when we race in Australia."
Elvin said despite the negative backlash there was still plenty of support from both spectators and competitors at the national titles.
"We're doing our best out there and just want to represent the Orica brand and Gerry Ryan [owner] as best we can, we just have to ignore that criticism at this time of year," Elvin said.
"But we also get a lot of positive feedback, a lot of girls say how excited they are to race against us because they don't get to for most of the year, so that's really nice."
Elvin, 28, is a month behind her usual January fitness level due to a late world championships, but has not ruled out adding a third national crown.
"I've had a bit of pressure on me since I won [2013 and 2014] and I've had a strong ride the last couple of years, but not enough to win," she said.
"My teammate Amanda Spratt won last year which was really good and definitely takes the pressure off me, so I'll do my best but we'll see what unfolds in the race."
Elvin admitted nationals posed a unique dilemma with several riders on the Orica team both capable and hungry to win.
"It's a bit tricky because it's nationals and everyone wants to win. We'll have a team meeting and talk about strengths and weaknesses and come up with plan," Elvin said.
"We won't have one clear leader because the race is open and we have to be dynamic because there are a lot of threats and we'll have to be on our toes.
"It will be narrowed down to two or three riders. Amanda is in great form again and so are some of the younger girls, it's going to be hard for us to decide who to save for late in the race."
A stellar 2016 season saw Elvin become an Olympian which she said would be "hard to top". But she confirmed she is gunning for victory at the Tour of Flanders in Belgium in April.
Eamonn Tiernan is a sports reporter with The Canberra Times