Springwood road cyclist Amanda Spratt is in the form of her career for Australian-based racing team Orica-AIS, midway through the European season.
The 27-year-old is replacing memories of an injury-disrupted 2014 with fresh ones of podium finishes at some of cycling's biggest races.
In May she came third in a stage of the Tour of Luxembourg and followed that by winning her first race of the year, the gruelling 103km Giro del Trentino Alto Adige - Sudtirol on June 20 in the Italian alps.
A long-distance specialist who loves attacking hills, Spratt combined well with teammate Katrin Garfoot in the race's two major climbs and broke away with 10km left to win by 20 seconds.
Success continued for team Orica-AIS at the seven-stage German Tour (Thuringen Rundhfart) last month, with Spratt coming second in stages two and six and third in the final stage on July 23.
Spratt finished fourth overall, her teammate and Swedish import Emma Johansson was crowned the winner, and Orica-AIS won the team classification over rivals Velocio-SRAM.
Johansson praised Spratt for being a pillar of strength throughout the tour.
"It really helped that Amanda made up time in the general classification [in stage six] - we had two options [for the final stage] and that allowed us to be super aggressive."
Spratt puts her and Orica-AIS' strong performances down to better training and gaining the confidence to use more aggressive tactics.
"I've never trained so hard in my life but the training has been much more tailored towards specific goals, which has made a big difference to me," Spratt said.
"Every area of my riding has become stronger.
"I started working with a new coach, Gene Bates, at the end of last year and I think that has provided me with new training ideas, new motivation and greater confidence."
When the team's captain Loes Gunnewijk retired in May, Spratt assumed the leadership role and believes that's helped her step up too.
"Rather than see it as extra pressure, I am thriving off it and making sure I'm always putting myself into the final parts of races so I can be there to make the good tactical calls.
"The team as a whole has really lifted."
Orica-AIS didn't fare quite as well at the La Course women's race in central Paris on July 26, but was not the only team pedaling into difficulty in the wet on the cobble-stoned circuit featuring the Champs Elysees.
Only 62 cyclists finished and most of the field, including Spratt and her five teammates, crashed at least once.
Johansson recovered from a crash and a flat tyre to finish seventh and likened the course to "being on an ice rink".
Spratt and team Orica-AIS will now turn their attention to earning further valuable rankings points at the two-stage Ladies Tour of Norway starting on August 15 and at round seven of the UCI Women's World Cup Series at Vargarda, Sweden on August 21.
