Alex Edmondson has come a long way from young gun to team pursuit leader

TRACK cyclist Alex Edmondson was only 17 and on his first trip away with the national team when he fell victim to an Anna Meares prank.

Alex Edmondson prepares for the Rio Olympics. Picture: Sam Wundke

TRACK cyclist Alex Edmondson was only 17 and on his first trip away with the national team when he fell victim to an Anna Meares prank which has since become a team tradition.

On the way home from a Kazakhstan world cup, Meares jokingly told a young and enthusiastic Edmondson that all first-timers at senior competitions had to give a speech to the rest of the team.

“A couple of my teammates said ‘nah that’s rubbish mate, it’s not part of it’ but I went to dinner with Kaarle McCulloch and she said ‘seriously, it’s legit, back when I went to LA I spoke about this and this’,” Edmondson recalls.

MUST SEE: 10 UNMISSABLE EVENTS DURING RIO OLYMPICS

BOOMER BOOST: BOGUT PLAYS FINAL OLYMPICS WARM-UP

Now convinced that it was a serious request from Meares — the leader of the team — Edmondson took his opportunity to address all riders and staff while they were on a 16-hour stopover in Frankfurt.

“I’m lucky because I can talk about anything so I just went for it,” he said.

After dinner for 15 minutes Edmondson barely drew breath as he spoke about what cycling meant to him and what a privilege it was to be riding his first senior world cup with the Australian team.

Jack Bobridge, Luke Davison, Alex Edmondson and Mitchell Mulhern compete in the team pursuit during the UCI Track Cycling World Championships in France.

And for 14-and-a-half minutes everyone in the room managed to keep a straight face.

“Then right at the end Anna got up and said ‘that’s really good Alex but that’s a first’, and everyone burst out laughing,” he said.

“But now every time someone new makes the team they have to do it and it’s not only athletes, it’s the coaches as well.

“It’s a really good tradition because now you learn something new about the guys we are working with. You might not know anything about this certain person but now you do and it’s been really good for friendships among riders and support staff.”

That night in Frankfurt in 2011 now seems like an eternity ago. So does 2012 when Edmondson went to London to make his Olympic debut but never got a ride as his teammates won silver in the team pursuit behind Great Britain.

“I can remember it crystal clear sitting on the couch in the Olympic village afterwards saying to (sister) Nettie ‘I either rack the bike now and say look I’ve tried, or I use this as motivation’,” he said.

“When I came back to Australia I had a month off and didn’t want to touch the bike but sure enough the best thing I did was to use that (London disappointment) as motivation every time I swung my leg over the bike.

“Ever since then I have wanted to prove a point that I deserve to be on the track in Rio and every team pursuit I’ve wanted to be the strongest one there.”

In four years Edmondson has gone from the baby of the team to one of its most important cogs and if coach Tim Decker had to pick a captain then he would be right in the mix.

In 2014 he became team and individual pursuit world champion and was part of the team pursuit that won gold at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games.

In Rio next week Edmondson will be joined by Jack Bobridge, Michael Hepburn and Glenn O’Shea who are returning from London and debutants Callum Scotson and Sam Welsford.

“I’m in an interesting position because I’m one of the younger guys but I’ve been around for a fair amount of time,” said Edmondson, who also rides professionally for Orica-BikeExchange on the road.

Alex Edmondson prepares to the Rio Olympics. Picture: Sam Wundke

“I’ve got a fair bit of experience but I don’t want to step on the older guys’ shoes so it put me in an interesting place.

“I’m trying to pick my times with what I say but I’m the sort of person that if I do something I’m doing it at full gas, absolutely full commitment, so I’m always trying to help the guys.

“And to have the likes of Jack Bobridge and Michael Hepburn coming back into the program, it’s about using them to spur us on.”

Edmondson and his sister Annette will be one of eight sets of siblings in the Australian team in Rio and will be cheered on by their parents from the stands.

“After London I remember saying ‘we’ve got four years until Rio’ and you think four years is plenty of time but it feels like yesterday,” he said.

“It’s amazing how fast that time has gone and as cyclists we’re in a bubble and go from one meet to the next.”

Road to Rio is a News Corp series for the 2016 Olympic Games, presented in partnership with Coca Cola.

Originally published as Alex Edmondson has come a long way from young gun to team pursuit leader