Angus Lyons will take a new-found confidence into the Cycling Australia Road National Championships in Ballarat next month.
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The Ballarat rider says he has come away from his most successful year in the saddle much more experienced tactically and with greater awareness of what is happening around him in races.
All this means a much more aggressive racing style from the 23-year-old.
Lyons carried the distinctive Oliver's Real Food colours with distinction in his first stint in Asia this year.
After wrapping up the Australian road season in the Herald Sun Tour, Lyons had the perfect start to an Asian campaign by taking out the king of the mountain jersey in the three-stage Tour de Tochiga in Japan.
He repeated the success in eight-stage Le Tour de Langkawi in Malaysia, going away with the red polka dot jersey.
With these under his belt, Lyons then turned his focus to being a general classification contender,
And again he shone.
A second in opening stage of La Tour de Filipinas opened the door for a third in the yellow jersey contest after five stages.
Then a win in the first of five stages in the Tour of Indonesia was a launching pad to second in the GC and third in the points classification.
Although he made his initial statements in kings of mountain, Lyons said he was anything but a specialist climber.
He said this had been where added aggression had paid off.
Lyons said in the past he had sat back and waited to see what unfolded when climbs started.
He said he had learnt to take the initiative earlier to put himself in a position to stay in contention when the stronger riders made their moves.
Lyons said this approach and the success he had reaped had given him much more confidence.
Lyons said it had been a great year all round for him and the team, certainly exceeding his expectations.
He will round off the year in the five-day Tour of Tasmania, which starts on Tuesday.
From there he will turn all his attention to preparing for the road national titles, in which he will compete in the time trial and road race.
Lyons is unsure exactly what his program will be next year, but he is hoping he can continue to improve and one day realise the dream of securing a professional contract. That is down the track though.
