MEETING POINT

Amanda Spratt and Grace Brown are leaders at Team BikeExchange.They tell Procycling.how they took wildly different pathways to end up at a similar destination

Interview Edward Pickering

  Portrait Photography Sam Flanagan

rocycling: Where are you now?

Amanda Spratt: Right now we’re in a beautiful castle in Holland, the day before Amstel Gold, getting ready to get up very early to race tomorrow, with breakfast at five in the morning, racing at 8:30.

That sounds hard. On the other hand, you’re staying in a castle... 

AS: That’s how the women’s peloton rolls these days.

How is the season going?

Grace Brown: For me it’s been a pretty good season so far. I had a good cobbled classics campaign and I’m now focusing on the upcoming races.

AS: It’s been my first winter in Europe. I’m getting used to feeling cold every day and missing the Australian summer.

Is it more like a normal season this year, or is covid still really affecting your racing and training?

GB: The race settings are the same with covid, but there’s a bit more certainty around the races going ahead. I think we feel a bit more sure about doing a full season. The atmosphere and protocols and everything outside the actual race is still very different.

Are you getting used to it? AS:

You never get used to PCR tests. That’s how it is right now and it means we can get through all the races. I’m looking forward to having the crowds and spectators back.

How was the European winter for you, Amanda?

AS: I spent the first half of the winter in Italy and Switzerland. I got my quota of snow days and decided to migrate to Spain for January and February. I was getting jealous of my friends in the Australian summer.

Did you stay in Europe because of covid and travel restrictions? AS: 

My partner is in Europe and getting back to Australia and doing quarantine ate into my season. I talked to my coach and we decided this was a good year to have a nice slow build and not have the stress of summer racing in Australia.

 GB: Unlike Spratty my husband is in Australia so I went back. I did the Santos Festival of Cycling and National Championships; it was nice to get some racing in before coming to Europe.

You’re two Australians on an Australian team. Is it something you notice?

GB: It feels a bit like a family on this team, and there’s shared experience among the Aussie riders because we’re so far from home. But we’re not a fully Australian team – a majority are European.