Meyer Wins World Cup Gold
Australia has finished on top of the UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics standings after claiming four gold medals in a sensational finish to racing at Melbourne’s Hisense Arena.
Queensland’s Anna Meares capped off a brilliant three days of racing by claiming gold medals in the time trial and keirin, to take her tally to three while reigning world champions Jack Bobridge, 21, Michael Hepburn, 19, Cameron Meyer, 22, and Leigh Howard, 21, recorded the fastest time by a pursuit team on Australian soil on their way to winning gold in the teams pursuit. To cap off the Aussie assault Team Jayco-AIS’ Shane Perkins claimed sprint gold.
Australia topped the medal table with six gold medals, well ahead of Great Britain who collected two gold, three silver and two bronze. Team Jayco AIS picked up three medals, one of each colour.
In the teams pursuit the Australian quartet slashed the all comers record of 3mins 59.599seconds set by WAIS-AIS athlete Meyer and Hepburn along with Luke Durbridge and Rohan Dennis, at last year’s World Cup round.
The Aussies, led by Jack Bobridge, bolted from the blocks in the final to hold a one second advantage over the Russian quartet of Ivan Kovalev, Evgeny Kovalev, Alexei Markov, Alexander Serov, at the one kilometre mark.
Buoyed by a large crowd, the team increased its lead at every time check, crossing the line at the end of the 4km in a time of 3mins 56.913seconds, almost eight seconds faster than Russia’s time of 4mins 02.354seconds.
The scorching time was just two tenths of a second outside the Australian record of 3mins 55.421seconds set by Bobridge, Hepburn, Meyer and Dale Parker in Delhi, and just over a second outside of the time of 3mins 55.654seconds set by Bobridge, Hepburn, Meyer and Dennis at the World Championships in Copenhagen.
“This morning’s session qualifying was a good start, we were pretty happy with it,” said South Australia’s Bobridge, referring to the team’s morning qualification time of 4mins 00.38seconds,” adding, “But we just changed a bit of a gear alteration for the final but I was quite happy with it.
“Over the past two years, we’ve been getting quicker and quicker and a (three) 56 minute time with all of us just coming out of an off-season shows good things for not just London, but for the 2011 worlds,” added Bobridge.
Although the Great Britain team was favoured to meet Australia in the final, Hepburn and the team were fully aware of Russia’s ability and took no chances in the final.
“The Russians rode a pretty good time at the European Championships just a month ago so we knew they would be up there, but a little bit surprised that the Brits didn’t make the final,” said Queensland’s Hepburn adding, “But with a fast track, and a loud crowd, it was really good for us and they helped us home that final little bit.”
Similarly, three-time world champion Meyer was also looking forward to the potential match up Great Britain.
“There’s always that feeling where you want to verse the Brits and beat them and we did that last year,” said WAIS Athlete of the Year Meyer.
“But any opponent that you meet in the final is worthy of getting there and you’ve got to race, so beating Russia, who did a 4:01 that’s a real quality high class time and we knew that we had to be on our game in the final and we rose to the occasion.
“We can take real confidence from that (ride), a few different little mistakes, a few of the changes and obviously I didn’t hear the three call which (meant) I had to chase and that’s a bit of extra energy.
“I know that Great Britain is building towards London and I’m sure they’ve got a few surprise packets with Bradley Wiggins and Geraint Thomas, so obviously you never write them off.
“But we’re just taking each race as they come and just building and from tonight, a 56 is right on the way to where we want to be,” added Meyer.
For Victoria’s Howard, who dropped off with one kilometre remaining after a series of sensational turns at the front, the win was a combination of joy and relief.
“I haven’t been on the track since last March before this so it’s a bit of a shock to the system,” said Howard, who claimed the Madison gold medal with Meyer on Thursday night. “I had a pretty tough time at Oceania last week, so it was tough getting on the start line here.
“(When I dropped off), I yelled as loud as I could but with the helmets so tight on your head it’s really tough to hear and you don’t exactly have a lot of oxygen left in your lungs when you’re trying to scream, so I know that Cam didn’t hear me yell out three which made it quite difficult, but we did our best,” added Howard.
In a nail biting bronze medal ride off with numerous lead changes, Great Britain’s Edward Clancy, Steven Burke Jason Queally and Andrew Tennant (4mins 01.456seconds) narrowly edged New Zealand’s team of Pieter Bulling, Aaron Gate, Cameron Karwowski and Myron Simpson by less than two tenths of a second (4mins 01.602seconds).
Meares’ first gold medal of the night came in her pet event the women’s 500metre time trial, where riding in the final heat, the reigning World and Commonwealth champion was uncharacteristically off the pace after the first lap.. But in typical style and in front of a parochial crowd, Meares rallied over the final hundred metres to stop the clock in 33.593seconds and win gold.
“Yeah that hurt,” said Meares, 27, after the win. “Near the end, your legs are burning and screaming at you to stop, the lactic acid makes your legs blow up to twice the size.
“So I just pulled a bit harder on the bars and rolled the hips a bit more and I got there in the end,” said Meares, who claimed her third time trial world title earlier this year in Copenhagen.
“I actually thought that Clair and Lee would really throw down a great challenge, and by the sounds of it I only just got it.”
Sandie Clair (FRA) took the silver medal in a time of 33.667seconds, with Hong Kong’s Wai Sze Lee taking bronze with 33.939seconds.
Despite the time being slower than expected Meares was happy given her recent training focus on sprint efforts.
“I woke up this morning and felt like I had been hit by a bus, as I was quite gee’d up from winning the sprint (last night),” she explained.
“So after the keirin heat this morning, I went for a nap and ending up sleeping for two and a half hours and felt really good in warm up.
“It is close to the time I rode this time last year, would have hoped for a little quicker, but given my preparation of late has been on the rolling work, the standing starts have suffered a bit, but today the back end saved me.
“I know what I need to work on for worlds now,” she added.
And despite the women’s time trial no longer being on the Olympic program, Meares’ still has a soft spot for her pet event.
“With it being dropped from the Olympic program, a lot of women no longer focus on getting this event perfect.
“I understand that logic, but in my book a world title is a world title, regardless of whether it is an Olympic sport.
Shortly after her time trial victory, a committed effort in the keirin final saw Meares claim another win. Meares held the front from start to finish with, French rider Clara Sanchez the only one who came close to overtaking her. But she faded in the final lap as Meares surgedto win the race ahead of Kaarle McCulloch (Team Jayco AIS) with Sanchez hanging on for third place.
“I’m really feeling quite shattered at the moment, I knew I had to give it everything,” said Meares, who collapsed into a chair immediately after the race.
“I figured I would take the front as no one wanted to take it off me given the way the semi final ran. A lot of riders held back and waited for me to move (so) I thought I would put the gear up and just protect myself on the straights.”
And what of her triple gold medal performance in Melbourne?
“I’m particularly pleased with my performances, but I’m pretty tired,’ said Meares. “I’ve only raced two days and Kaarle [McCulloch] has raced three, so I can only imagine how she’s feeling.
“I’ve always had a great run at the Melbourne World Cup and it’s always kicked off my season well.
“Great morale, positive attitude and that can build a great season. Coming out of Commonwealth Games and having put some good times on the board, I wanted to have some good races against some quality opponents and you’re not going to get anymore quality than what you’re finding here at Melbourne,” Meares added.
Victoria’s Shane Perkins (Team Jayco AIS) claimed the final gold medal of the event in the men’s sprint, defeating Great Britain’s Jason Kenny in an absorbing final.
After recording the fastest flying 200m time by an Australian on home soil with 10.042seconds during qualification earlier in the day, Perkins, 23, breezed through to the final without a hitch, easily accounting for the Netherlands’ Teun Mulder in the semi final.
In the final, Kenny held the advantage for the majority of the first heat, before a last ditch push to the line by Perkins forced the judges to go to the photo finish before awarding it to the Australian.
After Perkins missed a Kenny attack in the second heat the Brit went on to win with ease but Perkins attacked at the bell lap in the final heat and held off a fast finishing Kenny on the line to win the gold medal.
“(In the second sprint) I started cramping up, so I got a rub down which was great and got my head back into it,” said Perkins. “I then went out on the track confident I could leave it all out there and that’s what I did.
“Obviously Jason was laying off quite a bit, and I wanted to keep him close, but that wasn’t going to happen so I just took some distance out and made him work for it.
“Plus, the home crowd helped, it brought the energy levels up so I’m really happy and proud that I came back,” Perkins added.
Mulder defeated Japan’s Tsubasa Kitatsuru in straight sets to take the bronze medal.
In the women’s omnium, Spain’s Leire Olabbaria Dorronsoro upset reigning world champion Tara Whitten of Canada to take the gold medal.
The omnium consists of six events held across two days – a flying lap, 20km points race, elimination race, individual pursuit, scratch race and 500mt time trial. Riders are awarded points based on where they place in each event and the rider with the lowest total at the end claims the gold medal.
Dorronsoro finished on 26 points after finishing no lower than seventh in any of the six events, five points ahead of Whitten on 31, with Malgorzata Wojtyra of Poland took the bronze medal on 40 points. Australian cyclist and WAIS-AIS athlete Melissa Hoskins (53 points) finished seventh.
At the end of first round of the UCI Track World Cup Classics, Australia is sitting on top of the standings with 85 points ahead of Great Britain on 82 points and the Netherlands on 70 points. Team Jayco AIS is seventh on 35 points.
The Melbourne World Cup is the first round of the 2010-2011 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics series and will feature more than 300 cyclists from 41 nations in action in 12 events over three days of racing. For more details please visit the event website Results and official start lists are available at .
– Cycling Australia