HOWARD’S GOLD DREAM
CYCLE ACE EYES 2020 OLYMPICS
GEELONG cycling star Leigh Howard has unfinished business on the track and will target next year’s Commonwealth Games and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in his hunt for gold medal glory.
Howard, who recently joined continental-licensed ACA, will take a step away from his road commitments to focus on the track.
The 28-year-old is hopeful of wearing green and gold in the team pursuit at the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast before switching his attention to qualifying for the team pursuit and madison at the Olympics.
Howard was halfway through a two-year deal with Aqua Blue Sport before making a mutual split so he could spend more time on the track.
“The Olympics is the big goal, the end goal,” Howard said.
“The Commonwealth Games is the first big target to tick off. Because I have spent so long away from the track I need to completely focus on it.
“My condition is coming back slowly.
“I am enjoying myself. On the road over the past few years it’s become a bit of an obligation and I haven’t enjoyed it as much as I used to.
“To be doing something I am really passionate about is really good. I am a lot happier in my day to day life.”
Howard has always had a burning ambition to compete at the Olympics.
A talented teenager, he was too young to compete at the 2008 event. He then teamed up with Cameron Meyer to win back-to-back world championships in the madison in 2010 and 2011.
However, luck wasn’t on Howard’s side with the madison not at the 2012 or 2016 Olympics. It is, however, confirmed for Tokyo 2020.
“Bad timing there [with the madison] and I never got to fully pursue the dream of going to the Olympics on the track,” he said.
“This is my real last attempt to try and go to the Olympics in my career.”
Howard competed in the three grand tours, finishing 172nd at the 2016 Tour de France, 152nd (2011) and 142nd (2013) at the Vuelta a Espana and two DNFs at the Giro d’Italia. He also won various stages and one-day races around the world.
Howard said he was content with how his road career had panned out.
“When you’re young you have dreams of going to the moon and doing everything possible,” he said.
“I don’t think anyone, or very few, achieve all of their goals they set out to achieve. I would have loved to have won more races and won more bigger races.
“I had eight good years on the road. That’s not to say I won’t go back to the road in the future.”
Howard will be one of the experienced heads at ACA and will take a mentoring role with the team’s young riders.
The flexibility to mix track and road cycling at ACA is what appealed most to him.
“I needed to find a team that was quite laid-back and gave me as much freedom as I needed to spend some time on the track,” he said.
“The team offered me that and the project they have set up is really good.
“I’m looking forward to being part of it.
“Everything was going well [at Aqua Blue Sport], there were no issues with the team.
“It was just the fact I wanted to come back and spend the majority of my time in Australia.
“I couldn’t focus on the track 100 per cent if I was still racing overseas.”
Howard flies to his Andorran home on Monday and will return to Australia in the New Year. But a ride in the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race is off the cards, with the national championships on at the same time as Howard’s home town ride.