Bronte Stewart flies home from another cycling odyssey, from another cobble road in just another part of Europe where nation-state borders meet seamlessly, landing back in Wagga Wagga's bush to a typically hot Australian summer.

The Wiradjuri rider - arguably Australia's top Indigenous professional cyclist - feels at home pedaling on the wide open roads back on the mob's country.

There's just something uniquely different about riding the land of Stewart's ancestors than on a tour on the other side of the world.

She can feel their spirits looking down and guiding the teenager in a place that Stewart feels protected – and not just because older brother Myles is accompanying her on this ride.

"When we ride near the river actually, near our home, there's always a kookaburra that just seems to follow us," she says.

"We love to think that and we always say that our uncle, who had only passed away in 2020, is the kookaburra that is following us."

But kookaburras can only fly so far.

Stewart found that out across the past three summers abroad, cycling around of her French Riviera residence, whose Mediterranean heat rivals that of her Riverina home.

"The girl I've been living with might sleep in and we'll go out a bit later, and that's when we'll pay the price," she adds.

"You want to get out early, but sometimes you don't get the chance to and then it is so hot."

That's the extent of Stewart feeling the heat after she has slowly pulled out of more and more tours on the continent in recent times following her early dominance that first shocked oblivious observers.

Reflecting on the many rides from the top of Belgium to the south of France, she laughed off critique in cycling circles she could be a threat to a tour's status quo.

The Wagga Wagga Club junior was always dismissed from the Australian cycling's elite development squads, never viewed on the horizon worthy of an invite into the Australian Institute of Sport to further a potential professional career like many of Stewart's established peers.

"We were just the kids from Wagga," she says of the Stewart siblings' humble beginnings.

But she, in particular, thumbed her nose at convention and started to amass great finishes against some of Europe's more seasoned, yet hardened, young riders.

A top-ten overall finish in the Tour du Gevaudan Occitanie, a ride not far away from Stewart's base, was a standout performance that made the cycling fraternity stand up and take notice.

Part of the tour was essentially for a nations cup where the best up-and-coming from around the world clash that had Stewart also cross the line second in the young riders' category.

"The first year was pretty good when I first came over in 2022," Stewart told National Indigenous Times of life on the tour.

"I was like really fit and all that, and I was getting good results, but last year I did have a few health issues.

"I still got invited (in 2024) to come over here from one of the coaches, who wanted to help me find my feet again, but I never ended up doing that.

"I think I was listening to the wrong people at the time.

"I went home (in 2023) after, from mid-to-last year, I was not going to ride anymore, not race.

"I kind of pulled myself together and I thought I still want to do – I love it (cycling, that is)."

Stewart is quick to admit "there's a lot of layers to unravel" when responding to questions over what has happened.

The 19-year-old nervously giggles explaining health issues is not related to the aftermath or recovery of a nasty fall.

It turns sharply into a "mental health thing", and nothing technical on the bike.

"I got kind of an eating disorder," she slumps.

"So that was really hard to get over, but I'm over it now and I'm really happy to talk about it because I know how bad it actually is and I don't wish that upon anyone."

She finished the 2022 UCI under-19 world championships in 17th place, 38 seconds behind the race winner, around a 14.1km Wollongong road course following the first tour in Europe.

It should have been a time of pride after Cycling Australia altered its riding kit to incorporate an Indigenous design for the first time in front of the world.

"It actually made me very emotional – I don't know why at the time, but I did," she says.

She was feeling vulnerable even after coming off a great career start in Belgium before "I got in with the wrong crowd".

Soon after one nameless cyclist challenged Stewart to "see who can get the fittest" and she lost focus on the bike.

"That's when I really just wasn't eating enough – when I wasn't training, I would have three meals a day, but I would not take enough food when I was riding," Stewart confessed.

"I lost about 10 kilos or something absolutely ridiculous soon after and then I remember on Christmas Day breaking down to mum and dad in the garage because I was screaming out for help.

"I just needed help so badly and that's when I got help first off mum and dad and then off my coach at the time.

"Then from not eating anything turned into something else and I was just eating everything because that was my way of trying to make myself feel happy for those like 10 seconds.

"In the scheme of things, it just makes your worse."

This illness dragged into the next European season and Stewart's performances slipped much like her weight.

Not immediately, but in time.

Then there was no shows, pulling out of tour rides.

No one demanded answers, but her ARA Skip Capital team offered understanding. Still does.

Even to the point of extending the contract for another season, not knowing what to expect, built on trust, faith, and what potential still lied ahead.

"As the year went on, I wouldn't get out of bed some days – it got really bad," Stewart says.

"In all of this, I was still riding every now and then, but I hated the bike because I didn't like the way I looked.

"I came off one day because I broke my pelvis.

"So I was battling everything, I had a physical injury for a few weeks, all around my birthday.

"When I got back on the bike, I was like this is okay and that's when I went back overseas, and I just started listening to the wrong people again.

"And I didn't like myself again and I started sabotaging myself too."

Stewart had spent time racing in Luxembourg, but just twice on one weekend at the back end of April since attempting a third European summer where she failed to finish either race.

The calendar year started well in the national under-23 individual time trial three months earlier, with an eighth finish in the first of three rides.

Now it's all about riding for fun, coffees in the sun and creating a south-of-France lifestyle the envy of most back home.

"This year though was about seeing if I really wanted to race again because I do love racing, but I realised I hadn't really taken time for myself," Stewart says.

"I have been doing it since I was eight – this is all that I have known.

"So I kind of made the decision that I wasn't in the best environment, like both teamwise and people-wise, as there's been a lot of rumours going around about me too.

"The one race I did, I knew I wasn't happy doing this, so I made the decision this year I am not going to keep racing – that I am going to step away from it.

"I told the people I needed to tell – my family, my coach and the team, and they were really, really supportive of me."

The rumours centred around that Stewart was terminated and got booted out of the European circuit for quitting.

"I keep explaining it to people my decision to stop racing this year and maybe even for next year – I am not too sure, but I think next year as well – was that I was like grieving in a way," she says.

But Stewart is yet to rule out an unexpected change of heart and a return, sooner rather than later, back to competition either.

Plans to "spread my wings outside of Wagga" Stewart insists will give her better perspective on life and cycling into the future.

"The Bronte that used to race, I still want to be that girl again," she says.

"She was fun, but she knew what to do in the race.

"I think and know that I will be back racing, but it's going to be in my own time, this time."