Welsford in Form at Japan Track Cup

World Champion track cyclist Sam Welsford has underlined his class with a dominant display at the Japan Track Cup in Izu, Shizuoka.

The UCI recognised event was broken up into two days of competition – consisting of Japan Track Cup I on July 7 and Japan Track Cup II on July 8.

Welsford partnered with Kelland O’Brien to race the Madison on both days, with the pair asserting their dominance to win gold in both races.

The reigning WAIS Athlete of the Year also earned victory in the omnium securing three wins from three starts from his time in Japan.

At Japan Track Cup I, the Australian duo took gold ahead of the home nation pair of Minori Shimmura and Keitaro Sawada. They repeated their form at Japan Track Cup II, taking the win from an Iranian pairing of Mohammad Rajablou and Mehdi Sohrabi.

Having competed at the track event off the back of a road campaign with the Australian U23 national team, Welsford showed plenty of form, to back up for victory in the multi-event Omnium.

The 21 year-old claimed gold ahead of Japan’s Eiya Hashimoto and his Madison partner O’Brien.

There was also podium success for Welsford’s team pursuit colleague Cameron Meyer – who donned his rainbow jersey as Points Race world champion – to win gold at the Fiorenzuola event in Italy.

Meyer had similarly been a member of the Australian U23 road team over the past couple of months.