Track World Cup Bronze for Welsford
WAIS cyclist Sam Welsford has claimed a bronze medal as a member of the Australian men’s team pursuit squad at the Cali Track World Cup in Columbia.
A youthful team of Daniel Fitter, Jackson Law, Alex Porter, Callum Scotson and Welsford combined to claim bronze in 4mins 1.060secs, in a time that was quickest of all the rides in medal round.
“Yeah despite missing out on being in the gold final I think we are all really happy with how we went, having three consistent rides,” said Scotson.
“Each round we were right in the mix with the top countries, who have brought strong teams so that is a nice feeling.”
“It’s always a bit daunting starting the track season and waiting to see how you are going but we all seem to have started well and can hopefully keep improving from that through the rest of the season.”
In qualifying Fitter, Law, Porter and Scotson lined up for Australia as the penultimate team to start and they covered the 16 laps of the track in 4 minutes 1.301 seconds keeping themselves in contention for a podium finish.
Welsford came in for Fitter in the first round as Australia narrowly missed defeating Switzerland with an improved time of 3mins 59.402secs.
The race for bronze was a close battle with Denmark, who led for the first three kilometres before a powerful final 1000 metres by Fitter, Law, Porter and Scotson led Australia to bronze by nearly two seconds.
“It’s satisfying to get back on the podium, we always aim for the top step but I think all the boys are happy with the performances we gave today,” Law said.
“I was particularly happy as it was my first time going under the four minute mark. Three rounds in the one day was a big task but the boys handled it really well.”
Gold went to Russia in 4mins 1.064secs ahead of the team from Switzerland with 4mins 1.972secs.
In the women’s team pursuit, WAIS had two athletes involved with Elissa Wundersitz and Isabella King part of the Australian squad that finished sixth.
In qualifying, Wundersitz, King, Alex Manly and Danielle McKinnirey posted the eighth fastest time, 4mins 35.229secs to secure a spot in the next round.
In round one Lauren Perry came in for McKinnirey as the team was able to improve their time to 4mins 34.111secs, setting up a race with Poland for fifth and sixth in the final.
“Our first round was messy and had plenty of room for improvement, just qualifying eighth. However fixing our errors in the following rounds, we managed to move into the ride off for fifth. We stepped up and rode as one. Balancing the work load between five riders,” said Alex Manly.
“I was happy with our end result, obviously top 4 would be nice. But today wasn’t meant to be. I am proud of the girls for growing stronger each round and we all took something away from the racing, which will benefit us later down the track.
“I was happy with how I went considering where I am at in this point or training,” added McKinnirey who made her debut in the senior ranks, following two junior world titles the past two years.
“I gave everything I had on the day and the team really pulled together for such a young team and left it all out there on the track.”
Gold went to Canada who dominated proceedings in 4mins 20.139secs ahead of the United States 4mins 25.826secs and Great Britain with bronze 4mins, 26.662secs.
-CyclingAus