Australia searching for women with 'big engines'

Australia is on the hunt for women with "big engines" to represent the country in road cycling at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Australia are one of the traditional powers in all forms of cycling but are struggling to keep pace in the women's time trial.

Australians Oenone Wood and Kathy Watt finished 27th and 28th respectively in the time trial event at the world road race championships in Austria this week.

National coach Warren McDonald said the results were proof the standard of women's time trial had improved but Australia needed to find a new breed of racers if they wanted to be competitive in Beijing.

"In Australia at the moment I don't think we have a (Olympic) medallist time triallist," McDonald said in a statement.

"But we always face challenges head on and the challenge now is for us to find one in the next two years.

"We'll do some studies and research and there are a number of sports that have shown they have been successful.

"Triathlon and rowing are a couple of big engine sports and we need to find a girl with a very big engine that can ride fast for 30 minutes."