Women road cyclists click into gear Road warriors: (from left) Australian teammates Tiffany Cromwell, Amanda Spratt and Rachel Neylan at the national titles in Ballarat in 2012. Last week Rupert Guinness looked at the pluses and minuses of Australia's top male road riders on the world circuit this season. Now he reflects on the performances of some of Australia's top women road cyclists - and the challenge still facing women's road racing. Pluses Tiffany Cromwell An impressive ninth place in last month's elite road race world championship in Florence, Italy, was great return for her candid pre-race pledge to attack for the best result. It capped off a top season for the Orica-AIS rider that included a win in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad in February, a second and third in two stages of the Tour d'Ardeche in France last month and ninth in April's Fleche Wallonne, in Belgium. Shara Gillow Victory in stage two of the Giro del Trentino in Italy was a breakthrough for the Orica-AIS rider, winning off a gutsy solo attack near the end from her breakaway companions, who were caught by the peloton. Her performance smacked of some impressive self-confidence that would continue to show throughout the season, which also included a brilliant stage four time-trial win in the Thuringen Rundfahrt der Frauen and a bronze medal in the world championship team time trial. Orica-AIS A bronze medal in team time-trial world championship last month was one place down from their silver of last year; but still showed they are top ranked with three of last year's line-up - Australians Shara Gillow and Melissa Hoskins and Loes Gunnewijk from the Netherlands - racing this year along with Australians Annette Edmondson and Amanda Spratt and Sweden's Emma Johansson. This year's result indicated they should remain a force in the discipline for some time to come. Chloe Hosking The first major win of any European season can be hard for a rider, especially when they are an established name such as Hosking (Hitec Products) and that win is taking some time to come. She showed her mental resilience - and physical prowess as a sprinter - by ending her drought with a stage five win in a top field at the Boels Ladies Tour in Holland last month, beating Dutch rider Kirsten Wild (Argos Shimano) and American Shelley Olds (Tibco). Annette Edmondson The 2012 Olympic omnium bronze medallist has made a brilliant switch from the track to the road this year, highlighted with her recent stage four victory in the Lotto-Belisol Belgium Tour. Add to that, her stage win and overall win in the Tour of Chongming Island in May, and several other top places such as the third with Orica-AIS in the team time trial world championship. Special mentions Former track cyclist and road rookie, Amy Cure, 20, for her two stage wins and overall victory in the Krasna Lipa tour in the Czech Republic in July; Alexandria Nicholls and Alexandra Manly for their respective silver and bronze medals in the women's junior time trial at the world road championships, and Manly again for her eighth place in the junior world title road race. Minuses Rachel Neylan A silver medal in last year's world road championship in the Netherlands led many to justifiably believe that Neylan (Hitec Products) was destined for great things this year. But a complicated knee injury changed all that. By the time she recovered, she was short of the condition needed for this year's world titles on a suitably hilly course she knew well because she lives in Tuscany. After all her progress this season, hopes were that Gillow would place in the top six of the 20.5 kilometre individual time trial at the world road championships. Her 12th place at one minute, 20.39 seconds to the winner, Ellen Van Dijk of the Netherlands, was disappointing. As Gillow said afterwards, it was a "bad day." Australian road team Tiffany Cromwell's ninth place in the world road championship was superb. But she was isolated without support for the crucial last laps of the circuit as her teammates had dropped off the pace, despite their early efforts. Of the other Australians, Carlee Taylor was next best in 25th place and about four minutes behind Cromwell, then Gillow in 31st. Amanda Spratt, Amy Cure and Gracie Elvin failed to finish. Which raises the question: Did Australian head coach Martin Barras and the selectors pick the best team?