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Perth’s Michaela Anderson has been touted as the ‘next big thing’  by many and for good reason. Michaela, or ‘Micky‘ as she is affectionately known, recently returned home from the Australian junior road championships in Canberra with 2 new Australian championships.

Read our Live Interview with this superstar of the future.

CyclingResults.Net: Hi Michaela, congratulations on winning the U17 women’s time trial and pairs time trial at the junior nationals.

Michaela Anderson: Hey thanks, I was pretty happy with the outcome. Rick and I had worked really hard on my time trialling after track season had finished.

I was lucky to have been able to ride the course during the Kowalski Tour, though the conditions weren’t as windy as they were this past weekend. The time trial course was an undulating out and back course with a killer headwind on the way out and a strong tail wind taking you back to Stromlo Forest Park.

CR: Overall, how were the nationals for you?

MA: I was quite pleased with my overall results. I had pulled up sick a week before we left but managed to shake it just before the time trial. I didn’t get the best results in the next two following days being the road race and criterium.

But I was riding against a tough group of U17 women, including Cure, McCurley and Griffiths, so it was a tough two days. I played a major role in trying to break the bunch up but was unsuccessful both days. The U17 women field were not going to let any rider get away, moves were shut down pretty quickly.

CR: The time trial seems to be a pet event for you, is this because of your track background?

MA: After my success in the pursuit earlier this year, I though the next step would be to have a crack at the road time trial.

Luckily enough I had some of Australia’s best to train with including, Cameron and Travis Meyer, Sarah Kent and Jessica Allen. Watching these guys train has taught me a lot about time trialling and pursuiting and having Rick Lee as a coach has been a tremendous help as he is one of the best enduro [endurance. ed] coaches I know of. I guess the track training focuses on smooth pedaling you can transfer to Road Time Trialling.

CR: How many national titles have you won now?

MA: Eight national titles on both track and road;

· 2006, Track Nationals
Track 500m TT
Sprint

· 2006, Road Nationals
Criterium
Pairs Time Trial

· 2007, Track Nationals
Team Sprint
Pursuit

· 2007, Road Nationals
Individual Time Trial
Pairs Time Trial

CR: You were heavily marked in both the road race and the criterium, did this bother you?

MA: It wasn’t too much of a bother to me as I knew that there were at least five other girls in the bunch that would have been marked from their performances the day before and earlier in the year. These riders would have included, the two Cures from Tasmania, McCurley from Victoria, Griffiths from NSW and Stewart from QLD.

CR: How did you put this behind you?

MA: You just have to realize that this is part of bike racing and if I wasn’t marked, my job then would have been to follow someone who Rick and I thought would be a main player in the race. If you spend too much time worrying about riders shutting you down and marking you would waste that valuable energy an focus on the wrong things.

CR: For all the aspiring athletes reading this, can you entail what a normal training week looks like for you? (Without giving too much away)

MA: I don’t think I should be giving to much away however in a normal training week I would spend 80% of my time on my bike, 20% working on core strength. The majority of my base km work would come in during the holidays and there may be some compy work leading up to major competitions. Rick also emphasizes, diet and nutrient it is not all about the bike.

CR: You’re coached by Rick Lee and are a member of the Budget Forklifts development team, do you think these factors have helped you through your career?

MA: Definitely! I think for any aspiring athlete you need a good coach that you can trust and talk to. Rick does do little things that most people don’t see or hear about, and that is what makes him a good coach. When he feels your sick or tired, he understands you need time off the bike. However he also knows how hard he can push you during training to get the most from you. He knows when your stressed out and need to chill out also. Equally important in my view is having a group of riders that you can depend on to train with on the wet winder days. The guys I train with are a really great group of people, besides training together we hang out together.

CR: What’s next on the agenda, any races coming up?

MA: I’m traveling to Tasmania for the Christmas Carnivals with the Budget Forklifts crew . Tasmania was so much fun last year, it is like a huge Royal Show and Carnival mixed into one. I think the Tasmanians love having riders come out and they cheer for you even though they don’t know much about you. Then after that will be training up for the WA state championships to me to make the state team for the Junior Track Championships in Sydney.

CR: Any one you would like to thank?

MA: A special thank you has to go to my coach Rick Lee, Budget Forklifts for their sponsorship, Carbo Shotz, my cycle shop in Perth Elite Racing Cycles and its owner Steve Harcourt , Rob Waller , the Midland Cycle Club crew, my parents and my grand parents.

CR: Michaela Anderson, thanks for being part of this Cyclingresults.net Live Interview.

MA: Thank you for giving me this opportunity. Well done on the website it is great to get results so quickly.