Shepparton Cycling Club is Shaw to be proud of its riders’ efforts.
Across September 19-22, the club had four members travel to Loxton, South Australia, for the 2024 AusCycling Masters and Junior Road National Championships.
Emerging young gun Isla Shaw’s stocks continued to rise after performing well at the championships.
In the under-15 category, Shaw finished seventh out of 20 starters in the 16km individual time trial and seventh of 20 starters in the criterium race.
However, Shaw’s highlight came in the road race when the young starlet secured bronze with a time of one hour and seven minutes — two minutes behind first place.
Club president and Olympic gold medallist Brett Lancaster said he was keeping close tabs on how the club’s representatives fared at Loxton.
“I saw (Shaw’s) result at the time trial and she went well, but with the road race, she got third and a podium, which was massive,” Lancaster said.
“Someone sent me a text straight away when Isla got that result.
“It is a big step for her on the road.
“It just shows that she is a rising talent.
“It has been fantastic for the club.”
Not long ago, Shaw was sidelined by anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus injuries as Lancaster emphasised how impressed he had been with the young rider’s improvement.
“With Isla’s progression, it has been a really interesting one,” he said.
“She had an injury there and had a year off and only returned not that long ago.
“She has gone to nationals on the track and learnt a lot from that and then she has come to road (nationals) and it really suits her a lot.
“She has come in and stepped up, which is good for her, her future and to know that she can do it.”
The other three Shepparton Cycling Club representatives who participated at the championships were Billie Russell (bronze medal in the under-17 individual time trial), Myles Higgins (gold medal in the men’s masters 10 individual time trial) and Peter McClelland.
Shepparton Cycling Club training will start on October 1 at 4.30pm at Shepparton Velodrome.
Lancaster encouraged anyone interested to come down and have a crack; all you will need to bring is a helmet and enclosed shoes.
“I did a bit of a school visit during the Olympics with my gold medal,” he said.
“Hopefully, some of those kids can come down to the track and try it out with the track starting up in October.
“We have plenty of bikes and gear and equipment for kids that are trying out to jump on.”