She may call Sydney home now, but Emily Watts' return to the Central West ended in fantastic fashion on Sunday morning on the streets of Bathurst.
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The former Bathurst Cycling Club member and Lithgow native claimed victory in the 2020 Bathurst2Bathurst (B2B) women's 100km long course race, after pipping her rivals in a dramatic sprint to the finish line on William Street.
There was less than a second in the result, with Watts finishing just ahead of Simone Grounds and Dayna Davidson in second and third respectively.
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"I didn't look back, I was just looking at the line expecting Simone to come right past me," she said after the race.
With windy conditions and a lack of hill climb training, Watts admitted she had her work cut out as she climbed Mount Panorama and Mount Rockley.
"I'm a local here and I've done most of the club races on these roads, so the moment I saw that wind I knew we were going to get no respite the whole race," she said.
"These country roads are very dead, hilly and undulating. When you're out there with a small amount of girls, I knew no one was wanting to hit the front in the wind.
"We started the race up Mount Panorama and the girls I think were really keen to split it up. We did that and made a small bunch.
"I think all the girls were watching each other and we've all raced each other before. We all know how strong each other are."
With roughly four kilometres left the race, Watts - who was riding for the Sydney Uni Velo Club - made her move for the front, however her legs had other ideas.
"We were all trying to save our energy. I tried to break away with about four kilometres to go, thinking I was going to have a really good shot but my legs didn't want to go," she said.
"They decided they'd only want to go for about 15 seconds. I thought my race was over but I got back on the girls and the down hill sprint seemed to suit me."
When Watts crossed the winning line, there was no hiding the emotion as she raised her fist in triumphant celebration as she won the women's long course in just her second ever B2B attempt.
She clocked in a time of three hours, two minutes and 10.82 seconds, ahead of Dubbo Cycling Club's Simone Grounds in 3:02:11.46.
Southern Cross Cycling Club member Dayna Davidson clocked in just .09 of a second behind Grounds to claim third and the final podium position.
Jodie Martin - who was flying the flag for the Bathurst Cycling Club - finished the race in fourth in a time of 3:02:11.67, just missing out on a podium after finishing third in last year's B2B long course event, however, last year's event was 10kms longer and vastly different.
This year's event was the first time the B2B has not started in Blayney.