“It’s not a win, but it is a big confidence boost and tells me that training is on the right track towards the Spring classics in five weeks time,” Kitchen said.

The 26-year-old raced as part of the NSWIS-Sydney Uni team for the race and was thankful to be able to start with the development squad and take the leadership role.

Kitchen has returned to Port Macquarie for a brief period before she heads to Europe to link up with her professional team, WM3 Pro cycling.

“This result has made me even more excited to get over to Europe; my form is coming along nicely and now I can’t wait to get over there and spend time with my team mates,” she said.

Her next race will be in the Spring Classics where she is looking to build on some solid performances last season in the biggest races.

“Last season I wanted top 10s now I want a win,” she said.

“I think it’s the natural progression and now I feel ready to take that step with my new team WM3.”

The NSWIS – Sydney Uni squad is racing under director and ex-pro Katie Brown and marked the first race of the year for the team.

“The team was great, its a good group of girls and they went pretty well racing against some of the top women in the world; we came into the race as probably the lowest ranked team,” Brown said.

“The team many people didn’t expect much of and we finished with a fourth-place in the GC as well as being a factor in the sprint competition, I think that’s impressive.”