MUM’S THE WORD

Starting family may be next for Garfoot

CHAMPION Gold Coast road cyclist Katrin Garfoot is not thinking Tokyo Olympic Games right now – simply because motherhood is on her mind.

Of course the 36-year-old German-born Garfoot has the April Commonwealth Games in home territory as her immediate target.

But after that?

Who knows?

By the time the

2020 Tokyo

Olympics come around Australia may well have unearthed another champion she can pass the baton on to.

“Right now I haven’t made any plans (about going for Tokyo),” Garfoot said. “I’ll still definitely be at my peak when those Games come around but I’m thinking family (she is married to Chris). I’m 36 so I can’t leave it for much longer.”

Garfoot’s immediate target is to do well at her second go at the Santos Women’s Tour Down Under. The event runs from January 11-14, and starts and finishes in the Adelaide Hills.

It is being looked at as an ideal event for Australia’s prospective Commonwealth Games cyclists. Garfoot was a member of the winning Orica-AIS team that produced the individual winner in Amanda Spratt last year. This time she is part of a new team, UniSA-Australia, backed by Cycling Australia as an obvious boost for the Commonwealth Games. “It is good to have some races here before then rather than having to go to Europe,” Garfoot said. “Obviously, the field here will not be as strong as events in Europe but there’ll still be some quality there.” Garfoot did not finish the Rio de Janeiro Olympics road race because of illness but late last year she finished second in the road race and third in the time trial at the world titles in Norway.