Racing in front of her own fans at the UCI Road World Championships in Wollongong was potentially the best day of Josie Talbot's life.
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The Figtree cyclist now wants to create more good memories when she heads to France to start riding for French team Cofidis.
The 26-year-old doesn't officially start her two-year professional racing contract until next February but is heading overseas next month for a training camp with her new teammates.
"I'm just getting back into training. I had a bit of an off-season, which was nice," Talbot said.
"The World Championships was huge. It was obviously a big week and the lead-up to the event was massive, so it was nice that I could kind of clock off and enjoy a bit of quiet time after so much stress and excitement around the event.
"But now I'm back into training and looking forward to heading over to a training camp in Europe on December 9 to meet all my teammates.
"It's all going to be new territory for me being full-time overseas and doing some of the biggest races in the world.
"I'm just hoping to learn on the fly and get to know my teammates and hopefully we can have some good racing at the start of the season."
I'm just hoping to learn on the fly and get to know my teammates and hopefully we can have some good racing at the start of the season.
- - Josie Talbot
Talbot said her family were sad she was leaving but excited for her new adventure ahead.
"I normally spend a lot of time overseas each year but not this long. I will be gone from February to October. I'm sure they will be a bit sad but I think they are very excited for me also," she said.
"I'm really excited for the new adventure.
"There's going to be some challenges. Getting used to riding in the big peloton will be one of those challenges.
"It is going to be really good.
"I know it is going to be super hard and really high level, so it is probably just adjusting to the shock of that, but I think I'm up for the challenge."
Talbot returns from training camp in late December. She plans on spending Christmas with family before heading back over to France for the start of the season in February.
"There are some races in Australia. We've got the national championships in January and hopefully I get to do the Tour Down Under as well next year before heading back to Europe," she said.
"I've got some goals I want to achieve including the big goal of hopefully competing at the Paris Olympics in 2024.
"But my main aim now is just to focus on what I'm doing right now. If anything eventuates I will be happy but I'm just focusing on right now for the moment."
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Agron Latifi
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
