Cyclist Alyssa Polites opened up the Women’s Tour Down Under race last week in style, announcing to the cycling world that she’s back.
Two years ago she was one of the top up-and-comers, having signed a WorldTour contract with Jayco-AlUla at 19-years-old.
She also aspired to compete in the Olympic Games in Paris, to race Paris-Roubaix and win a world title.
But illness and injury derailed her career.
In Adelaide, Polites made a solo break early which she held until the main climb at halfway.
With that performance she hopes to rekindle her dreams and show the world her talent.
“It’s definitely a boost to the confidence it’s coming at a really good time,” Polites, who is from Melbourne, said in the post-race interview.
“I just really enjoyed the atmosphere on the home roads. I had a bit of a crack and it worked out OK.”
Attacking solo less than 20 kilometres into the stage, her one goal was to reach the top of the category 1 climb, Heatherdale Hill and take the Queen of the Mountains jersey.
With her time bonus, she would take the best young rider white jersey.
“I knew it was really early. I had the finish line right on the QOM,” she said.
It was support from her team car that “egged” her on.
Polites was asked about her brief stint in the WorldTour, where she explained her setbacks.
According to Cyclingnews, she caught COVID-19 in June while preparing for the 2022 Commonwealth Games and ended up with long COVID.
Then her 2023 season started with number of DNFs (did not finish) before suffering a serious injury.
“I had a really serious accident towards the end of my first year as a neo-pro,” she said.
“I ruptured my spleen in the first edition of l’Avenir so that’s quite serious. But yeah, I live to fight another day.”
After that Polites agreed with the Jayco team to step back to their development team for the 2024 season.
“Unfortunately, I had a lot of bad luck last year as well, so it just wasn’t meant to be.”
“There was no bad blood. I hope I get another opportunity again to race with the only Australian WorldTour team. I think they’re a great team.
“I’m really hungry for it. I think I’ve got the foundation now to build off from and I’ve got my confidence and spark again.”
