Peta Mullens goes one better at Buninyong to take national road title.

PETA Mullens' golden summer has continued, with the mountain bike specialist taking out the women's elite road race at the Australian national championships.

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Mullens stayed true to her form found at last week's Mitchelton Bay Cycling Classic and outsprinted Sydney's Rachel Neylan in 2h55:29 after 102 kilometres of the Mount Buninyong circuit on Saturday.

The pair jumped ahead of the peloton on the penultimate lap and managed to hold national time trial champion Shara Gillow at bay over the final 10 kilometres.

Gillow crossed the line for bronze 21 seconds behind the leading duo, with the peloton languishing a further 40 seconds back.

Mullens, 26, had no intention to continue her 2015 season on the road, but conceded post-race that she may have to reassess her options looking forward.

"Of all the national titles - I'm a mountain biker - but I would still prefer to win this one," the Bendigo product said.

"It's a bit ironic, but this is supposed to be my only road race for the year. Now that I've won the stripes I'll have to change my plans.

"I always say that I always want somebody to win the jersey who is going to take it over to the European peloton so it can be seen."

Mullens, the Australian cross country mountain bike champion, said Neylan's attack on the second last climb was the catalyst for her win, with only herself and Gillow able to respond.

Orica-AIS champion Gracie Elvin tried in vain to clinch a third successive title, but faltered on the final slope alongside many of her team mates.

"Rising up that hill with someone who's attacked Marianne Vos at the world championships is a bit intimidating for me," Mullens said.

"I think we both knew we needed each other at the top of that climb to hold the margin to the finish line."

For 32-year-old Neylan, the second placing marks her strongest result since a silver medal in the women's race at the 2012 World Championships.

"It's been a pretty challenging 18 months since my World Championship medal," Neylan said.

"I'm not coming out here to prove a point or anything like that, I just want to let my legs do the talking and show people that I'm not done yet."

Both Mullens and Neylan said their performances at this year's road championships are the first steps to qualifying for the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Earlier in the race, 2012 champion Amanda Spratt jumped off the front multiple times in a bid to take out the queen of the mountains, which she did over Carlee Taylor.

Meanwhile, Shannon Malseed matched her win in Wednesday's under-23 criterium by taking gold in the under-23 road race.