It’s been a journey of knockbacks and perseverance for the Australian national road race champion to book her spot on the startline at the inaugural Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift.
Nicole Frain was racing with Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank at the end of 2021, the team got a new sponsor and made the step up to the Women’s WorldTour, but without the Australian.
“It was challenging, you wonder ‘why not, is it something about me’,” said Frain in an interview with SBS Sport. “I don’t like to be told I can’t do something. I want to show how I can.”
The Tasmanian won the nationals with a mixture of wits and strength in January, attacking at the perfect moment and then holding off her more-fancied WorldTour rivals on the run to the finish line to win solo in Buninyong.
It was a career moment for Frain, and it meant that the 29-year-old would wear the famous green and gold bands in all road races for the next 12 months. However, Frain didn’t have a contract with one of the WorldTour squads, she had signed with UCI-categorised team Roxsolt Liv SRAM, a well-regarded Australian outfit who typically races a mixture of National Road Series races, US criteriums and below WorldTour European events.
It would be a case of trying to show in her racing opportunities with Roxsolt Liv SRAM that Frain deserved a spot in the elite ranks of WorldTour cycling.
“One of the motivators for me to go to Roxsolt was that they were going to Europe this year and that I’d get this opportunity,” said Frain. “Peta (Mullens, Roxsolt Liv SRAM co-owner/rider) knew I was looking for this chance to step up and it was great to join them. They’re a strong team, with great riders who’ve come through the program in Sarah (Gigante) and Neve (Bradbury).”
“I did quite well in Thuringen, which was my last race for the team, but while a lot of the girls went over to America to race the crits, while my plan was to stay here in Europe and get good results racing here.”
“Annette Edmondson is my manager and she approached Parkhotel after Morbihan (a race in May). I could go into Thuringen and just enjoy the racing with the pressure off my shoulders a bit.”
Frain showed form in Thuringen, a race that was dominated by another Australian Alex Manly. Frain finished ninth overall thanks to a string of consistent results that confirmed that she had the ability to mix it with the best.
Parkhotel Valkenburg represents a step up, the Dutch team races a big chunk of the WorldTour classics season and has seen a number of stars of the WorldTour progress through its ranks.
“I didn’t join Parkhotel for the purpose of a Tour start, I knew that they were doing the Tour but it wasn’t a negotiation thing,” said Frain. “I got the call from Raymond (Rol, team director) and there were some pretty big smiles at that point.
“I never expected to get that start coming into such a strong team. When they turn up to a race and see them on the startline you know that the race is going to be hard and they’ll control the race.
“They’ve had Lorena Wiebes and Demi Vollering come out of their set-up, and they’ve got the fundamentals on how to develop riders and step them up into the WorldTour, which is still my ambition.”
Roxsolt Liv SRAM has almost a family atmosphere, the team embracing a rider-led environment that votes on races and doesn’t have a strong hierarchy in team management. Parkhotel Valkenburg is more in a traditional cycling mould, a sports director-led team with riders simply not getting selected if they don’t meet expectations.
“I didn’t expect to be called up for the Tour,” said Frain, “but more hoped and I kept training like I could get the call-up.
“You have the girls here in Parkhotel who are based in the hub of cycling. Most of the girls don’t work, they’re putting everything into their cycling. When you have Australians they’ll often juggle a lot more for a lot longer, because we have to I guess. A lot of this team have ambitions to go further in cycling, it’s a different atmosphere.”
“I signed with Parkhotel for 18 months, and that’s something that I really wanted to do, to get to know the girls and the team and really develop without the immediate pressure of having to chase a result every race. I want to race for others and then get my chances when they come, work through a good process and let the results come.”
The path to racing at the top level isn’t yet complete, but Frain feels that overcoming hurdles so far along the way is seeing her in good stead to make the step up to WorldTour level.
“It’s been challenging, even with winning nationals, there’s been a bit of expectation that comes with the jersey… whether that’s from others or myself. I’ve had a couple of crashes, I broke my lovely nationals bike… but you keep fighting and pushing on and at the end people see that and respect you more for it.”
Frain is at the Parkhotel Valkenberg training camp as the team prepares for the Tour de France Femmes, near the final climb of the race, the Planche des Belles Filles. The buzz of the Tour is in town, and Frain is looking forward to that moment when she gets presented alongside the rest of the national champions in Paris.
“When I get called up, I’ll look to the side and there will be heaps of national champions there,” said Frain, “some of them are my idols. That’s pretty awesome.”
SBS will broadcast the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, LIVE and FREE on SBS, SBS On Demand and the SBS SKODA Tour Tracker.
