WAIS/AIS Cyclists Bring Home Gold in Track World Cup
WAIS/AIS cyclists brought home three gold and a bronze for Australia from the UCI Track World Cup 3 in Los Angeles.
Cameron Meyer (Helena Valley) claimed his first senior World Cup gold in the points score event. Meyer, riding for Team Toshiba, factored into eight of the 12 sprints of the 120-lap race, gaining 23 points to win ahead of Poland’s Rafal Ratajczyk. The 19-year-old, who finished third in both Sydney and Beijing, now leads the World Cup standings by five points ahead of England’s Chris Newton. “After riding three world cups, you know your competition, and the World Champion was in there, he’s always the most dangerous guy, so I kept my eye on him.”
Scott Sunderland (Wanneroo) impressed many by winning gold in the 1000m time trial with a quick time of 1:02.702 – keeping the pressure on for sprinting squad places ahead of the World Track Championships in March. Sunderland, also riding for Team Toshiba, blitzed the competition setting a time four tenths of a second faster than Ukrainian Yevgen Bolibrukh. The 19-year-old set the track on fire with an opening lap of 18.3, and then held on to the fastest splits throughout the race. “I went more like I did as a junior – hard at the start and try to hang on,” Sunderland said. “Previously I’ve been going out hard at the start and then trying to pace a bit too much. It’s more pain and more spewing at the end of it, but it worked.”
The Australian pursuit team, including Peter Dawson (Mandurah East), won gold in the teams’ pursuit event. The Aussies beat Denmark in a nail biting final – pulling even just before the last 1000 metres, and then ending the race a full three seconds and change up on the Danes. Dawson sees the result as a warning to the British team, who won both previous rounds but chose to skip the American World Cup. “This is a big step for us toward the World Championships, and then obviously Beijing. We’ve been on the back foot with the British guys swatting some fantastic times, and we’re going to go to their home turf now with a bit of confidence.
Ryan Bayley (SA-based) was disappointed to come off with the bronze in the keirin event. “It was a little disappointing,” Bayley said. “I won the heat and the semi finals, but I made two small mistakes in the final. It was only a crafty little move in the final that got me into third.”