At Whitten's End

Tara Whitten is suddenly in the spotlight.

The ascendancy of Canada's best women's track cyclist started in March, when she won both the points race and the omnium at the track world championships in Copenhagen. It continued through the summer, culminating with Whitten winning all six of her events at the Canadian championships in August.

No one who knows her is surprised by her success, but many are surprised by how quickly it all happened. It wasn't that long ago that Whitten was a cross-country skier who regarded cycling as a casual training activity. 

She's also taking an indirect path to this year's Commonwealth Games. Although she has built her reputation on track events, Whitten will compete in the road cycling world championships starting Sept. 29 in Melbourne, Australia, where she'll try to improve upon last year's eighth-place finish in the time trial.

She'll then hop on a 13-hour flight to Delhi, where the Commonwealth Games begin on Oct. 3.

"I think that there is always pressure and there should be," the 30-year-old Edmontonian says of her Commonwealth Games expectations. "I think I am capable of winning medals there but I have to keep in mind I will be coming off road worlds and training specifically for the time trial.

"I would like to be on the podium in all three endurance events on the track [in Delhi] — the scratch race, points race and pursuit — and, on the road, in the time trial. And I would like to contribute to a good team performance in the road race."

Blessing in disguise?

Whitten's coach, Richard Wooles, says he tried to persuade Whitten to forego the road race at worlds and go directly to Delhi following the time trial event. She wouldn't hear of it.

Still, both coach and athlete admit the Commonwealth Games don't fall at the best time of year. Early October is the end of the road-racing season and just a month and a half before the start of the 2010-11 track season.

It's a lot of work. But cycling is in Whitten's blood, even if she didn't recognize it right away.

"I only started training for track [cycling] seriously in 2007, although I have ridden a bike my whole life," she says. "I was training for cross-country skiing until 2006-07, when I felt I needed kind of a change or, at least, a break from skiing, and started riding my bike more and taking it up seriously.

"I grew up mountain biking with my dad. He was a keen mountain biker, and it was something we did as a family. He raced a lot in the Masters categories in the '80s and '90s."

Despite all that time in the seat, Whitten has only suffered one serious crash. It happened recently, while she was mountain biking in Moab, Utah, shortly after the world track championships. She hit a patch of gravel on a descent and went down hard, hurting her elbow. A CT scan taken a month later revealed she had broken the humerus bone, which required surgery to fix.

Perhaps it was a blessing in disguise. The forced break from racing could leave her legs fresher than her competitors' at this late stage of the season.

Whitten thinks time will tell.

"[The injury] forced me to do a little bit less road racing, especially early in the season. Potentially, that's going to benefit me for these later races — road worlds and Commonwealth and even the track season coming up in the winter."

School's out

Wooles, who is also the track coach for the Canadian national team, became Whitten's full-time coach after the world championships. Before that, he acted in an advisory capacity while Edmonton-based Eric Van Den Eynde was her primary coach.

The Welshman marvels at Whitten's versatility.

"Very few can perform both [track and road events] exceptionally well. In road racing you are looking at more of a sustained effort, possibly three hours, and that does deaden the speed."

Wooles sees Delhi as an opportunity for Whitten to not only add to her international medal haul, but also gain valuable experience.

"She will be going into the Commonwealth Games as one of the favourites," the coach says. "There shouldn't be any pressure, but it's her first multi-sport [event] experience. She will be trying to perform as best as possible setting up for the Olympic Games in London."

Her success has come rapidly, but Whitten understands she can accomplish a lot more if she remains focused. French rider Jeannie Longo, for example, won world championships well into her 40s.

In order to dedicate herself more fully to the sport, Whitten has decided to take a two-year leave of absence from her studies at the University of Alberta, where she was working on a PhD in neuroscience.

"I think that I understand how powerful the mind can be," she says. "I think my studies have given me a good perspective on my cycling career."

Now, it's all about the bike.