PROFESSIONAL cycling has taken Adelaide superstar Annette Edmondson a long way from home – 16,200km to be precise, to Girona, 100km north of Barcelona.
The Catalonian town with its medieval stone buildings is well positioned, allowing professional riders to quickly travel to key races all over Europe, while the nearby mountains meet the needs of the most punishing training schedules.
“There are lots of hills there, flat rides, it has a good climate, everything is really cheap and there are over 200 cyclists,” Edmondson says.
“We have a professional women riders group chat there, so if people have got long rides and want company they can write ‘Anyone else got four and a half hours to do tomorrow and want to meet at this time?’ You’re never alone in Girona.”
Despite a 2016 that saw Edmondson go into the Rio Olympics as a dual world champion track cyclist from the year before and leave without medals, her 2017 professional season with pro team Wiggle High5 was a standout.
Last year, Edmondson scored her first European pro race victory since 2013 and took the prologue win and third overall in the BeNe Ladies Tour in Belgium.