A familiar face to the Clarence Valley Sports Awards, Laurelea has once again excelled in the world of cycling.

This time she overcame a disrupted preparation and a slow start to win gold at the Australian National Masters Road Cycling Championships held in Wollongong, where the UCI World Championships were held a week later.

After finishing fifth in the Individual Time Trial, she went on to win the Criterium and placed second in the Road Race in the Masters 1-3 division (30-44 years).

The Criterium featured a fast and technical 950m winding circuit which ended in a sprint, with Laurea launching out of the last turn “in beast mode”.

“It was an absolute dream sprint that gapped the rest of the field to win outright,” she said.

The Road Race saw numerous attacks neutralised, but Laurelea managed to hang on for the silver medal in a brutal 500m uphill finish.