Tour Down Under Peloton Pays Heartfelt Tribute to Star Cyclist Melissa Hoskins, Setting a Reflective Tone for the Season

Melissa Hoskins’ sudden passing in a car crash sent shockwaves through the cycling community. To pay tribute to the promising cyclist, the Tour Down Under Peloton decided to kick off the race by mourning the loss of Hoskins. The entire team stood in unison as they had a minute of silence in her memory. Such a sight was very much in contrast to what we see every year at the Tour Down Under, which is the crowd and the venue buzzing with excitement, and everyone having a triumphant look on their faces. 

This year, however, things were different. The sudden demise of the Australian cyclist has left a gaping hole in the cycling community. While the mood of the entire arena was heavy, fellow athletes and peers recalled Hoskins and expressed their memories and opinions of her. 

Friends and peers mourn Hoskins 

As the race was about to start, Hoskins was bound to be on everyone’s lips. Echoing her emotions about the athletes, Annette Edmondson, the assistant race director, stated, “There’s a lot of people here that knew her. A lot of national riders, a lot of international riders. She lived here, she trained here, and it’s a really sad few weeks for us as a cycling community.” 

Edmondson further doubled down on the emotional rollercoaster the other competitors were in. Stressing the fact that this year’s tournament was a tough situation to be in for all the riders, the assistant race director praised Hoskins’ exceptional personality. She further claimed that Hoskins was light and that she led the path for so many riders to attain greatness. 

Alex Manly stated that Hoskins would have liked the tournament to be a success. Thus, she urged everyone to get right back to business once the mourning was over. Manly further conveyed her sincere condolences to Hoskins’ family. 

With such a huge loss for the cycling community making everyone tearful, let us take a look at the accomplishments of Melissa Hoskins. 

A look back at Melissa Hoskins’ career

Melissa Hoskins proved her mettle at the young age of 15 when she was selected for the WAIS Talent Identification Program. Soon, her exceptional skills bore rich fruits as she went on to clinch the Australian Championship within three years. Hoskins, along with Edmondson and Josephine Tomic set a new world record at the 2012 World Championships. 

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Hoskins qualified for two consecutive Olympics in 2012 (London) and 2016 (Rio) and performed significantly well. Melissa Hoskins also won the World Championship gold in 2015 after failing to achieve the feat by a whisker on the previous two occasions. 

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