Shara Marche (née Gillow; born 23 December 1987) is an Australian former professional cyclist, who competed professionally between 2011 and 2020, for the , , and teams. She was selected to represent Australia at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, where she finished 13th in the

time trial In many racing sports, an sportsperson, athlete (or occasionally a team of athletes) will compete in a time trial (TT) against the clock to secure the fastest time. The format of a time trial can vary, but usually follow a format where each athle ...

and 39th in the road race. Following her retirement, Marche became a food coach and nutritionist at UCI Women's WorldTeam .

Personal

Marche was born on 23 December 1987 in

Nambour Nambour is a rural town and Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Sunshine Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Nambour had a population of 12,145 people. Geography Nambour is north of the state capital ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

. Her father David Gillow is an Olympic cyclist who represented Zimbabwe at the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad () and officially branded as Moscow 1980 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1980 in Moscow, Soviet Union, in present-day Russ ...

. She attended Nambour Christian College then was home schooled and obtained a Bachelor of Language from Western Sydney Institute. , she lived in Belli Park, Queensland. Beyond cycling, Marche is also a surfer. In 2019, she married Nicolas Marche, then a

directeur sportif A ''directeur sportif'' (, ) is a person directing a cycling team during a road bicycle racing event. It is seen as the equivalent to a field manager in baseball, or a head coach in football. At professional level, a directeur sportif follows t ...

for

UCI WorldTeam A UCI WorldTeam (2015–present), previously UCI ProTeam (2005–2014), is the term used by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to name a cycling team of the highest category in professional road bicycle racing, road cycling, the UCI World Tou ...

. The couple live in

Besançon Besançon (, ; , ; archaic ; ) is the capital of the Departments of France, department of Doubs in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The city is located in Eastern France, close to the Jura Mountains and the border with Switzerland. Capi ...

, France, and have a son, born in 2022.

Cycling

Marche did not become a professional cyclist until she was twenty years old, taking inspiration from her father to get involved with the sport. Marche was coached by Martin Barras from 2010. Her coach said she "was one of the most physically gifted cyclists he had seen, but tended to be too conservative and protective when competing." Her primary training base is in Italy, with a secondary training base in Australia. She is a member of the Sunshine Coast Cycling Club. She has cycling scholarships with the Queensland Academy of Sport and

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

. She was a member of the professional cycling team. Marche finished 4th at the 2011 Memorial Davide Fardelli in Rogno, Italy. She finished 3rd at the

Thüringen Rundfahrt der Frauen Thuringia (; officially the Free State of Thuringia, ) is one of Germany, Germany's 16 States of Germany, states. With 2.1 million people, it is 12th-largest by population, and with 16,171 square kilometers, it is 11th-largest in area. Er ...

in Germany. She finished 9th overall at the

2011 Giro d'Italia Femminile The 2011 Giro d'Italia Femminile, or Giro Donne, was the 22nd running of the Giro Donne, Giro d'Italia Femminile. It was held over ten stages from 1 to 10 July 2012, starting in Rome and finishing with an individual time trial in San Francesco al C ...

in Italy. She finished 8th at the 2012 La visite chrono du Gatineau in Canada. She finished 7th at the 2012 Prologue GP Elsy Jacobs in Luxembourg. She finished 1st in the individual time trial and 2nd in the road event at the 2012 Oceania Road Championships in Queenstown, New Zealand. She finished 2nd at the 2012

Women's Tour of New Zealand The Women's Tour of New Zealand is a stage race A race stage, leg, or heat is a unit of a racing, race that has been divided in several parts for the reason such as length of the distance to be covered, as in a multi-day race, multi-day event. ...

. She finished 1st in the individual time trial event at the 2012 Australian Road Championships in Learmonth, Australia. Marche was selected to represent Australia at the

in the road race and

individual time trial An individual time trial (ITT) is a road bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock (in French: ''contre la montre'' – literally "against the watch", in Italian: ''tappa a cronometro'' "stopwatch stage"). There are also trac ...

. Prior to the Olympics, she raced with Australia's team in the

Giro Donne The is an annual women's cycle stage race around Italy. First held in 1988, the race is currently part of the UCI Women's World Tour, and is currently organised by RCS Sport, the organisers of the men's Giro d'Italia. The race was previously b ...

. She finished 13th in the time trial and 39th in the road race. In September 2016, it was announced that Marche would join for the 2017 season. She spent the rest of her professional career with the team, announcing her retirement in September 2020.

Major results

Source:Profile
at ''Cycling Quotient'' ;2008 : 2nd Overall Tour of Bright ;2009 : 2nd Overall Canberra Tour : 8th Overall

: 9th

Chrono Champenois The Chrono Champenois is a European individual time trial bicycle race held around Bétheny in France, in the Champagne region. The race has been organised as a 1.2 event since 1989 for women's and since 1998 there is also a men's race which i ...

;2010 : 1st Stage 1 (

ITT ITT may refer to: Communication *Tank phone, Infantry-Tank Telephone, a device allowing infantrymen to speak to the occupants of armoured vehicles. Mathematics *Intuitionistic type theory, other name of Martin-Löf Type Theory *Intensional typ ...

) Mersey Valley Tour : 8th

Time trial In many racing sports, an sportsperson, athlete (or occasionally a team of athletes) will compete in a time trial (TT) against the clock to secure the fastest time. The format of a time trial can vary, but usually follow a format where each athle ...

UCI Road World Championships The UCI Road World Championships are the annual world championships for bicycle road racing organized by the (UCI). The UCI Road World Championships consist of events for road race and individual time trial, and , a UCI Road World Championships ...

;2011 : Oceania Road Championships ::1st OceaniaChampionJersey

Road race ::1st OceaniaChampionJersey

Time trial : 1st MaillotAustralia

, National Road Championships : 3rd Overall

: 4th Overall

: 4th

Memorial Davide Fardelli Memorial Davide Fardelli — Cronometro Individuale was a women's senior and men's under-23 time trial cycle race which took place in Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western ...

: 7th

: 9th Overall

Giro d'Italia Femminile The is an annual women's cycle stage race around Italy. First held in 1988, the race is currently part of the UCI Women's World Tour, and is currently organised by RCS Sport, the organisers of the men's Giro d'Italia. The race was previously ...

::1st Stage 2 ;2012 : Oceania Road Championships ::1st OceaniaChampionJersey

Time trial ::2nd Silver medal Oceania

Road race : National Road Championships ::1st MaillotAustralia

::7th Road race : 1st Stage 3

Bay Classic Series The Bay Classic Series (last run as the 2023 Citroen Bay Crits) were a road cycling race held annually in and around Port Phillip Bay in Victoria, Australia Victoria, commonly abbreviated as Vic, is a state in southeastern Australia. It is ...

::2nd

Team time trial A team time trial (TTT) is a road bicycle race in which teams of cyclists race against the clock (see individual time trial for a more detailed description of ITT events). The winning team in a TTT is determined by the comparing the times of ...

::10th

: 2nd Overall

: 2nd

Open de Suède Vårgårda TTT Open or OPEN may refer to: Music * Open (band), Australian pop/rock band * The Open (band), English indie rock band * ''Open'' (Blues Image album), 1969 * ''Open'' (Gerd Dudek, Buschi Niebergall, and Edward Vesala album), 1979 * ''Open'' (Got ...

: 8th

Chrono Gatineau Chrono Gatineau is an elite women's professional one-day time trial held in Canada and is currently rated by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) as a 1.1 race. In the same week, the Grand Prix Cycliste de Gatineau Grand Prix cycliste de Gat ...

;2013 : National Road Championships ::1st MaillotAustralia

::6th Road race : 2nd Overall

::1st Stage 4 (

) : 3rd

: 3rd

Chrono Champenois – Trophée Européen The Chrono Champenois is a European individual time trial bicycle race held around Bétheny in France, in the Champagne region. The race has been organised as a 1.2 event since 1989 for women's and since 1998 there is also a men's race which is ...

: 4th Overall

: 7th Overall

Giro del Trentino Alto Adige-Südtirol Giro del Trentino Alto Adige-Südtirol was a women's cycle race held in Italy, between 1994 and 2017. In all but three of its twenty-four editions, the race was held as a stage race. Winners Jerseys : is worn by the overall leader of the race ...

::1st Stage 2 : 10th Overall

Emakumeen Euskal Bira The Emakumeen Euskal Bira was a women's cycling race held in the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country, Spain. It was held annually from 1988 to 2019, starting out as a two-stage race and building up to five stages in 2007. One of ...

;

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

: Oceania Road Championships ::1st OceaniaChampionJersey

Time trial ::3rd Bronze medal Oceania

Road race : National Road Championships ::2nd

::9th Road race : 3rd Overall

BeNe Ladies Tour The Baloise Ladies Tour (formerly the BeNe Ladies Tour) is a women's staged cycle race which takes place in Belgium and the Netherlands and is currently rated by the UCI UCI most commonly refers to: * University of California, Irvine, a public un ...

: 4th

: 6th

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

: 10th Overall

;2015 : National Road Championships ::1st MaillotAustralia

::3rd Road race : 1st Crescent Women World Cup Vårgårda TTT : 3rd Bronze medal uci

: 10th Overall

;2016 : 2nd

, National Road Championships : 2nd Overall

Gracia–Orlová Gracia–Orlová is a women's staged cycle racing, cycle race which takes place in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic and in the Silesian Voivodeship of Poland. It was created in 1987. Honours Jerseys As of the 2013 edition: ...

: Crescent Vårgårda UCI Women's WorldTour ::3rd Team time trial ::9th Road race : 7th Draai van de Kaai : 8th

7-Dorpenomloop Aalburg The 7-Dorpenomloop Aalburg (; also known as the Rabobank 7-Dorpenomloop van Aalburg due to sponsorship reasons and the Dorpenomloop Wijk en Aalburg) was an elite women's road bicycle race held in and around Aalburg, the Netherlands. From 2011, the ...

: 8th

Ridderronde Maastricht Ridderronde Maastricht is an elite men's and women's professional road bicycle racing event held annually in Maastricht, Netherlands. The first edition was in 1985 and since 2008 the event also includes a women's race. Since 2019 Ridderronde was ...

: 10th

;2017 : 1st Overall Tour de Charente-Maritime ::1st Stages 1 & 2 (

) : National Road Championships ::2nd

::5th Road race : 2nd

Durango-Durango Emakumeen Saria Durango-Durango Emakumeen Saria is a women's bicycle race held in Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernm ...

: 3rd

Grand Prix de Plumelec-Morbihan Grand Prix du Morbihan is a single-day men's road bicycle race held annually in May around Plumelec, in the region of Brittany, France. Since 2020, the race is organised as a UCI race classifications, 1.Pro event on the UCI ProSeries, also being p ...

: 5th

La Flèche Wallonne Féminine LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second most populous city in the United States of America. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music *La (musical note), or A, the sixth note *"L.A.", a song by Elliott Smit ...

: 5th

La Course by Le Tour de France La Course by Le Tour de France was an elite List of women's road bicycle races, women's professional road bicycle race held in France. First held in 2014 as a one-day race on the Champs-Élysées stage in the Tour de France, Champs-Élysées in ...

: 6th

Strade Bianche The Strade Bianche (; ) is a road bicycle race in Tuscany, Central Italy, starting and finishing in Siena. First held in 2007, it is raced annually on the first or second Saturday of March. The name stems from the historic white gravel roads in ...

: 7th

Liège–Bastogne–Liège Liège–Bastogne–Liège , also known as ''La Doyenne'' ("The Old Lady"), is a one-day classic cycling race in Belgium.Cycling Weekly, UK, 13 March 1993 First run in 1892, it is the oldest of the five ''Cycling monument, Monuments'' of the Eur ...

: 8th Women's Tour de Yorkshire ;2018 : National Road Championships ::3rd

::7th Road race : 6th

La Flèche Wallonne La Flèche Wallonne (, French for "The Walloon Arrow") is a men's professional cycle road race held in April each year in Wallonia, Belgium. It is part of the UCI World Tour. The first of two Belgian Ardennes classics, La Flèche Wallonne is ...

: 7th

: 8th Overall

Setmana Ciclista Valenciana The Setmana Ciclista Valenciana is an annual professional road bicycle race Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing ...

: 8th Overall Women's Tour de Yorkshire : 9th

;2019 : National Road Championships ::4th Road race ::5th

: 4th

: 9th Overall

Tour de Bretagne Féminin Tour de Bretagne Féminin is a women's staged cycle race that takes place in Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Arm ...

: 9th

References

External links

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gillow, Shara Living people 1987 births Australian female cyclists Olympic cyclists for Australia Cyclists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Australian Institute of Sport cyclists Cyclists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games cyclists for Australia Australian people of Zimbabwean descent Sportspeople from Nambour, Queensland Sportswomen from Queensland 21st-century Australian sportswomen