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Georgie Howe came into the sport of cycling late, a rower with a big engine and a positive attitude who quickly made up for lost time by throwing herself into every challenge. She was at the front of races, making attacks, breaching racing etiquette at times through ignorance, but learning and growing at every opportunity.
In her first season, Howe often led the line for the Australian WorldTour team at the biggest races, the first one to pull a turn, chase down a move or do the dirty work at Tour de France Femmes, Vuelta and cobbled classics. She cuts a distinctive figure, on the bike with teeth gritted, or off with a new hairstyle. The team role is one that suits the endurance power of Howe, but also her mentality.
“I get great pleasure working for my teammates,” said Howe. “Of course, individual results are fantastic and we all want to win, but I get as much satisfaction burying myself for my teammates knowing that I have complete faith that they can finish it off in the end. That, to me, brings me the greatest pleasure and it’s an absolute privilege to work for them.”
“If at the front, or not quite at the front and covering the moves, I’m more than happy to do that for them, knowing that they can finish it off in the end. Everybody gets their opportunity at some point, but these girls are something special, I’m really happy to work for them.”
A team focus won’t be Howe’s sole one in 2024, there are personal ambitions mixed in as well, with a significant subplot to the 2024 season being the battle for selection to the Olympic Games in Paris. It’s an issue that Howe is familiar with, having missed out on going to the Olympics with the Australian Rowing Team.
The Australian women have three spots for the road race and two for the time trial, with world championship silver medallist Grace Brown a lock for one of the time trial and road race spots, with Brodie Chapman, Sarah Gigante and Howe the other top names in the hunt for the time trial selection.
The Australian National Championships time trial was a crucial selection race for the riders, with few long time trials on the women’s cycling calendar. Howe was third there, 36 seconds behind winner Brown, and also 29 seconds behind Chapman.
“If you look at nationals, you take the result aside, I was actually really happy with the ride,” said Howe. “We got the pacing a little bit wrong in the first four kilometres, which rode us out of the race really, so I was a bit disappointed in myself for that. But, I’ve learnt from that to trust my legs early on and I’m confident that we can build throughout the year.
“Paris… I’ve hung my hat on Olympics before in rowing and it’s never a good way to be as there’s so many uncontrollables. If I just focus on being a great person, a great teammate and a great bike rider then things normally work out for the best.”
A singular Olympics focus used to be a lot more common in women’s cycling as well, no other race received the coverage, or offered the prestige for the winner that the Olympics did, but that is changing, with a host of races climbing in prestige and shaping as nice targets in their own right to base a season’s push around.
“I’m targeting the classics pretty hardcore,” said Howe. “The classics are the races that reward those that take their opportunities when they come. Flanders, Roubaix, de Panne as well, if it’s windy, I’ll look to target the classics in a big way.
“Any time-trial is a focus and look to help my teammates as much as possible in the Grand Tours and take the opportunities that are afforded to me.
“It’s something that’s totally different from rowing, in rowing you have Olympics every four years and world champs every year and that’s pretty much it. It’s nice to have a smorgasbord, so to speak, of races. Around the Olympics you’ve also got Tour de France, Giro and Scandinavia, so plenty of opportunities.”
Howe’s quick entry into the sport and year of apprenticeship in the peloton is not an unfamiliar story within Australian cycling, with the likes of Katrin Garfoot, Lucy Kennedy and Grace Brown some of the more recent success stories on similar lines. The 29-year-old isn’t one to try and emulate however, and will no doubt be trailblazing her own path.
