Welsford Wins World Cup Gold
WAIS scholarship athlete Sam Welsford collected gold in the men’s team pursuit at the Hong Kong Track World Cup over the weekend as Australia dominated the event.
Welsford partnered with Alex Porter, Miles Scotson and Rohan Wight to storm home for gold in 3 minutes 57.461 seconds in the final against Denmark, having qualified fastest on Friday and again in round one.
Australia won bronze in the men’s team pursuit at last year’s world championships in Paris, and are building a strong squad – rich in depth – as they target Olympic gold in Rio. Australia’s team pursuit squad in Hong Kong featured a young group – with only Scotson a member of the 2015 World Champs team – and the squad delivered under race pressure, managing to keep their pace consistent across three rounds of racing. Alex Porter praised the group’s ability to back-up in-between rounds as crucial to their success and on-going progress.
“To come away with the gold is a great feeling, we all worked really hard for this and to get the result is amazing,” said the former junior world champion.
“To be able to ride a 3:56 and then a 3:57 only a few hours later was great especially with us being such a young team.”
Denmark took an early lead in the final but the Australian team didn’t panic and kept the advantage in check holding it at around one second. Late in the third kilometre, Denmark’s early pace took its toll as Australia surged ahead in the final four laps to win by over three seconds.
“I’m super happy with the times, I hadn’t gone sub four minutes before so to do it twice in one day was fantastic,” Rohan Wight said.
“I was really excited to be a part of the team for this World Cup, an awesome opportunity and I’ve gained a lot of experience just from the three rides,” explained Wight who made his World Cup debut having only stepped out of juniors at the end of last year.
Earlier in the day, the quartet were unstoppable in round one booking their spot in the final with victory over Germany in 3mins 56.517secs.
Porter added that the series win highlighted Australia’s options in the event.
“Winning the overall series, just shows the depth and consistency of the entire squad which is a really good sign with Rio approaching,” explained Porter.
Bronze went to Great Britain in 3mins 59.706secs.
Sam Welsford was joined in World Cup action by fellow WAIS scholarship athlete Elissa Wundersitz, who contested the women’s omnium.
Wundersitz finished the omnium in 16th position after an aggressive final points race where she took an early lap to collect 20 points which set her up for the race win.The youngster, racing against an international field that included World and Olympic medallists was pleased to have finished on such a positive note.
“It’s a great feeling to have a win in the scratch race at this level, against a really classy and tough field,” said Wundersitz.
“In the points race I was looking forward to enjoying myself in a very hard and long race.
“I’m happy gaining valuable experience & continuing to learn with every ride. Very pleased to be considered for World Cup selections and improving each time.”
Wundersitz started the final day in 22nd in the 500m time trial in a time of 37.346secs. Before posting a time of 14.841secs for 16th in the flying lap. These results left Wundersitz in 15th ahead of the all important points race.
Ahead of the half way point Wundersitz combined with Xiao Juan Diao (Hong Kong), Jannie Milena Salcedo (Colombia) and Holly Edmondston (Edmondson) to take a lap.
Inside the final 30 laps, Wundersitz attacked again in an effort to move up the standings but aware of the danger the bunch was quick to close her down.
Gold went to Laura Trott (Great Britain) on 188 ahead of Sarah Hammer (United States) on 170 who just held off Laurie Berthon (France) on 166.
-CyclingAus