Hosking buoyed by cycling form

Heading to the hills looks like elevating Chloe Hosking's cycling career to the next level.

The Olympic and Commonwealth Games representative was one of the revelations in Australian women's cycling in the past month.

While Hosking has built a strong reputation as a sprinter, she knew she needed to become more of an all-round talent.

So her sixth at the national road championships - over a hilly course Hosking has never liked - and fourth on Saturday at the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road race were eyebrow-raising results.

They're also strong signs she's heading in the right direction.

The race at Geelong on Saturday also featured climbing near the finish and Hosking did some great work trying to set up Wiggle High5 teammate Danielle King.

Ultimately, Orica-AIS took first and second, but Hosking admitted January had boosted her morale.

She will contest the Tour of Qatar from Tuesday, her first significant goal for 2016, and then head to Europe.

"It's always like 'Am I doing enough?' or 'If I cut off one of my legs, I'd be so much lighter', and then I get over the climbs," she said.

"I just need to keep ticking the boxes.

"Hopefully, it carries through into the (northern) spring."

Hosking said the penny had dropped that she could no longer rely on her sprinting prowess.

"Especially in women's cycling, I don't think you can tunnel-vision yourself into being just a sprinter any more.

"That's probably something I've realised the last couple of years and I've really tried to work on that.

"I want to improve and I don't want to just be able to sprint.

"I'm not winning races yet, but I'm up there.

"I will be happy when it starts paying off in Europe."

Another focus has been working on her preparation for big races.

It was clearly an issue when she failed to fire at the London Olympics and Glasgow Commonwealth Games.

"That has been something I've struggled with," she said.

"But my coach have worked together now for about three years and we're really starting to nail that - the taper, the preparation.

"It's actually being in form when it matters.

"It's definitely something I'm getting better at."