Benson Eyes Bright Start to 2010
WAIS Head cycling coach Darryl Benson believes the start of 2010 can shape a hectic year for the WAIS cycling program with five scholarship holders named to compete in this week’s UCI World Cup event in Beijing.
Women’s omnium world champion Josie Tomic will be joined by Sarah Kent, Scott Sunderland, recent Australia road champion Travis Meyer and junior world champion Luke Durbridge in China.
The event is the last in the UCI series, but will also be the final competition before the national track championships in Adelaide early next month, which will be used by Cycling Australia to select Australian teams for this year’s world championships and Commonwealth Games.
“This world cup is going to be fairly important for our guys as they’ll be looking to find form for the national championships,” Benson said.
With Australia sweltering through a typically scorching summer, Beijing conditions by contrast promise anything but.
“In all likelihood it’ll be minus 15 degrees or thereabouts in Beijing, which will take some getting used to following the weather we’ve had in Perth,” Benson said. “The track will be nice and toasty though, so it’s something they should cope with.”
Josie Tomic and Sarah Kent will form part of Australia’s strong team pursuit track team in Beijing, whilst Scott Sunderland – featuring for Team Jayco – will be looking to wrap up a series win in the kilo (1km time trial) where he currently leads the standings.
Travis Meyer and Luke Durbridge will compete for Australia in the team pursuit, with Durbridge making his first world cup appearance outside of Australia, having competed in his two previous campaigns in Melbourne.
“It’s going to be very difficult for spots (in the world championship and Commonwealth Games squads), there is a lot of competition and quality in numbers at the moment, so the heat is on,” Benson said.
Western Australian Institute of Sport world champion Cameron Meyer is currently competing with his professional road team outfit, Garmin Transmissions in the Tour Down Under in South Australia.
Meyer was involved in a large crash during the first stage, a tangle which brought down 60 riders. He was uninjured in the fall and able to continue.
The Tour Down Under is the first Pro Tour event of the year and features seven time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong and Australian road world champion Cadel Evans.
Long time mentor, Darryl Benson indicated Meyer would be looking to cement his reputation as an emerging talent on the road in 2010.
“This will be his first full season as a professional, after working back from shoulder reconstruction surgery last year. This year he will be looking to continue improving whilst juggling his road and track commitments,” he said.