WHAT'S better than winning two world championship gold medals? How about smashing a personal best time and being declared a World Cup series victor as well?
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That is what Bathurst handcyclist Emilie Miller did at the 2019 Para-Cycling Road World Championships in Emmen, The Netherlands, on the weekend.
Miller was one of the stars of the Australian Cycling Team contingent which attended the titles as she won both the women's H1 handcycle road race and individual time trial events.
As had been the case 12 months earlier when Miller was crowned a dual-world champion for winning those events in Maniago, Italy, no other females eligible to compete in her classification entered.
But that certainly did not take away from her stellar performances.
In the individual time trial Miller clocked a time of 43 minutes, 42.02 seconds as she averaged 14.297km/hr.
It was a clear personal best, Miller having averaged a tick under 14km/hr in Maniago 12 months earlier, while at the Belgium World Cup round in May, her average speed for the Individual Time Trial was 12km/hr.
"I was very happy with my ride, as we've worked on building some strength and speed throughout the year and it was great to see all the work paying off by pulling off a big PB," she said.
Next came the road race - a 22.2 kilometre challenge spilt into three laps. Again she pushed hard, covering the distance in one hour, 32 minutes and 46 seconds for an average speed of 14.385 km/hr.
"[The] Road race today was all about fast flats and fast corners. I felt really strong and rode well, winning the gold medal and rainbow jersey," she said.
"Getting to stand on the podium wearing the green and gold is always a proud moment, so it was exciting to be able to do that twice this week."
On top of that, Miller was also acknowledged as winner in her classification in the World Cup Series, beating out Italy's Luisa Pasini.
It capped off what has been an impressive 2019 season as Miller also finished as a dual Australian road champion.
"Winning dual rainbows and the World Cup series in 2019 sums up the hard work both myself and my support team have put in this year," she said.
"I showed some good form at the World Cup in Belgium, and we built on it again this week at worlds, so it's a great feeling knowing I'm continually improving and becoming a better athlete.
"I'll have a few weeks off before I turn my attention to the Road National Championships in January. I'm looking forward to racing on the new time trial course in rainbows."
