For Amanda Spratt, it has been more than a year of doubt, frustration, and questioning. Despite her relentless efforts, her hopes of a medal in the road race at the Tokyo Olympics ended in retirement. But late last year, after discovering that his unexplained ailment was due to iliac artery endomysial fibrosis, Australia's leading cyclist will embark on a journey to regain the form that has earned him podium finishes in some of the world's toughest races, at the Santos Festival of Cycling.

After undergoing surgery in the Netherlands in mid-October to correct a condition that restricts blood flow, and then enduring nine weeks of minimal activity - no easy feat for a long-term cyclist - the BikeExchange-Jayco long-term rider will begin training in Australia in late December

"We're now in the process of getting back on the bike.

"I'm just getting my fitness back up and going strong again," he said. The opportunity came up just as the Santos Festival of Cycling was starting, so I thought it would be a good time to rehabilitate and get back on the team," Spratt said in an interview with Cycling News this week. [It was] really exciting to see Ruby [Roseman-Gannon] and Alex [Manley] race at Nationals. Considering the strength of everyone we saw at Nationals, there is no doubt that they will suffer like hell over the four days of racing. I go into it with obviously different expectations than I normally have, but I'm just as excited."

The Santos Festival of Cycling will start on Sunday, January 23 and will conclude with three road stages and a criterium. Replacing the cancelled Tour Down Under, the race will pit WorldTour pros like Spratt and her Bike Exchange-Jayco teammates against the top teams in the Australian national road series.

Spratt had three wins in the international edition of the Women's Santos Tour Down Under between 2017 and 2019, and in 2018-2019 she regularly left her mark and reached the podium in the most prestigious races from the World Championships to the Giro d'Italia Donne However, her struggles did not stop at the end of 2020.

It began with an ill-timed crash at the 2020 Giro d'Italia Donne, which also ruined her chances on the lucrative World Championship course. Then, as he started for the big race in 2021, there were some signs that his recovery in training was not the same, but he still had the occasional good day, and some obvious obstacles, including a nasty stomach bug at the key goal of the season, the Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femme and explanations kept appearing to overshadow the bigger problems.

"Sometimes I get tired in training and don't recover well, but when it comes to racing, I'm ....... I was getting better and better, becoming one of the best climbers in the world, and I thought I could make the podium in a tough one-day race. Then all of a sudden I started falling off, missing finishes, and finishing way below my ability. I knew I was still going to have to do all the hard work .

Then came the crucial point after the Tokyo Olympics.

"There were a couple of days, especially right after the Olympics, when I was really down. 'By my own standards, I was really miserable. I couldn't finish the race. As soon as it got really hard, I was dropped, so it was really hard to deal with that, and I definitely had my doubts about things. 0]

"I went straight to the plane and spent a lot of time alone on the long flight thinking and pondering.

"I was really upset and had some tough days, but the great support around me got me through those first few days.

"And now that I have those answers, I can start thinking and planning for the future.

Spratt, who started racing bicycles at age 9, is now entering a new stage in his career.

Riding for the first time since his surgery, Spratt said, "I was smiling the whole time I was off the ride. Now it feels like a cool challenge to get back to fitness."

Given her already high level of fitness, Spratt is clearly hoping to be a formidable opponent once she gets back into shape and achieves some important goals in her 11th season as a professional cyclist.

"I took nine weeks off for surgery, which was a long time. I want to make the most of it."

"I remember a few years ago when I was chasing medals at the World Championships, chasing the rainbow jersey, and on the podium at the Giro and Ardennes Classics.