After winning the RoadNats’ women’s road race last year, she won a gold medal in the team road race at the Commonwealth Games before competing strongly overseas.

Originally from a small town near Portland, the 24-year-old now lives in Ballarat, which made her victory in 2018 even more special.

“My support network in Ballarat is huge, I’ve got so many close friends I've made through work and cycling I’d consider lifelong friends now,” Malseed said.

“The training, even solo, is great, because you can head out on quiet roads, you can get some quiet terrain or rolling terrain, and in terms of traffic it’s not very hectic – in Melbourne, the traffic’s crazy.

“That’s what I like about Ballarat – it’s the best of both worlds.”

It’s all helped to prepare for the 2019 RoadNats – living in a house full of cyclists and having all her supporters and trainers close by makes a huge difference.

“I’m away for eight months of the year, so it’s quite hard to feel grounded when you’re travelling so much, but to come back, Ballarat’s now starting to feel like where I feel most grounded,” Malseed said. “You feel like you can reset, it’s got all those resources I need to physically get ready for a big season away, and that’s super important.

“As a pro, you don’t really have that overseas, you have the access but they’re always changing because they're always moving, so having the network (at home) feels like having that core.”

The huge season took its toll by the end of the year, but that’s just made Malseed more determined – as well as the World Championships, the Tokyo Olympics in 2020 is beckoning.

“I started off the year the best I could imagine, and I carried that through into the Commonwealth Games, that was an incredible experience, one I couldn’t imagine doing in 2018, so coming towards the end of the season I struggled to keep that momentum and physical fitness – my body was ok, but mentally I was struggling,” she said.

“This year I've learnt a lot, and next year I aim to apply those things and be good in the back end of the season, for myself and my team.”

This year, Malseed will be racing with a teammate, Queensland’s Brodie Chapman, who finished sixth in the road race in 2018.

“Last year, I didn’t have anyone, so it changes it tactically – it won’t be easier or harder, it’ll be different,” she explained.

“We can make all the plans in the world, the only thing that’s certain is we’ll try our best to bring home that green and gold jersey – on her shoulders or mine.”

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