Meyer, Garfoot win cycling gold in Commonwealth Games time trial
IT was a golden day for Australia’s road cyclists, with Cameron Meyer and Katrin Garfoot both claiming first place in the men’s and women’s time trial events.
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IT was a golden day for Australia’s road cyclists, with Cameron Meyer and Katrin Garfoot both claiming first place in the men’s and women’s time trial events.
Meyer took out the men’s event after entering the time trial at the last minute on the recommendation of coach Tim Decker.
Meyer lifted his gold medal just a few hours before Garfoot embarked on her tilt for Commonwealth Games gold.
Her time of 35mins 8secs was a whopping 54 seconds faster than New Zealand defending champion Linda Villumsen and 1:14 quicker than England’s Hayley Simmonds.
MEN’S TIME TRIAL
CAMERON Meyer’s comeback to top level road cycling is complete after producing a stunning ride to win gold in the time trial at the Commonwealth Games which he only decided to enter at the last minute.
Meyer was only targeting the points race on the track, in which he has been a five-time world champion, but a week ago decided to ride the time trial as well on coach Tim Decker’s recommendation.
After surprisingly missing the medals in the points race when he was heavily marked on Sunday night, Meyer re-focused and stormed to gold on the road at Currumbin on Tuesday.
Set a time of 48mins 43secs for victory, Meyer crushed the field that had started before him to beat England’s Harry Tanfield and New Zealander Hamish Bond by 30 seconds.
The 30-year-old Western Australian covered the 38.5km course which started and finished in Currumbin in 48:13 while teammate Callum Scotson overcame a rear wheel change early to finish fourth in 49:35.
“It was only two weeks ago that we decided, it was Tim Decker who knew I had good aerobic form and I was concentrating on the points race which is a 45-minute effort and today is roughly the same,” Meyer said.
“And he said ‘Cam I reckon you could have a crack in the time trial’, and I said ‘why not? Let’s have a go’. We scrambled a bike together, did my measurements and I had nothing to lose and somehow it paid off.”
It was Meyer’s fourth Commonwealth Games gold medal after he won three on the track in Delhi in 2010 and vindicates his decision to return to cycling’s WorldTour this year.
He has been racing bikes his entire life and is a nine-time world champion on the track. He won The Tour Down Under on the road in 2011 and Herald Sun Tour in 2015 before walking away from professional cycling in 2016 citing a lack of motivation.
He returned later that year on the track which remains his focus heading towards the Tokyo Olympics, but Meyer’s experience, work ethic and engine made him a sought after recruit for WorldTour teams and he signed with Australian squad Mitchelton-Scott.
“I concentrated on my professional road scene then took a break and the last year-and-a-half I’ve been concentrating on getting back into the track and Tokyo Olympics is a main focus,” he said.
“It’s been a while since I’ve done a time trial and I broke my collarbone in the last one I did, so luckily I stayed upright this time and and I couldn’t be more thrilled than I am today.
“I’ve got to thank all the stuff who got behind me and prepared me for today, they did everything right and my coach Tim Decker who said ‘give it a crack’.”
Scotson’s early momentum was halted when he was forced to stop and change his rear disc wheel due to a puncture but he remained philosophical after the race.
“It wasn’t really to plan, it was a little bit my own fault because I didn’t quite nail the line on the corner and went out a bit towards the barrier where there are stones to hit,” Scotson said.
“I heard the puncture and got a quick wheel in, you know you’ve lost time but I had to treat it like it hadn’t happened and kind of forget until the finish, and it is what it is.”
WOMEN’S EVENT
REAL life might be catching up to Katrin Garfoot but her rivals are not after Australia’s top female road cyclist won Commonwealth Games gold in the time trial yesterday.
After deciding to step away from professional cycling in Europe this year to focus on family, “money and superannuation”, the Queenslander targeted the Games on home soil and dominated yesterday’s 25.3km race at Currumbin.
Her time of 35mins 8secs was a whopping 54 seconds faster than New Zealand defending champion Linda Villumsen and 1:14 quicker than England’s Hayley Simmonds.
“After Rio I decided I’d go for the Commonwealth Games seeing as it’s my home town, and even while I was out there I didn’t take in the atmosphere I was just focused on finishing it off and we can celebrate after,” she said.
“Last year I decided I wasn’t going back to Europe because I’m married and I want to stay married. It was time to spend some time with my husband, I can’t afford to take him to Europe so it was my decision and they (team) were all good with me preparing here and where better than to prepare at the venue itself.”
Garfoot’s victory made it two from two for Australia on the road after Cameron Meyer produced an equally dominant performance to take gold in the men’s time trial.
Australian cycling set itself a target of winning eight gold medals at these Games - one more than their seven in Glasgow four years ago - and now with 12 and mountain bike (Thursday) and road racing (Saturday) still to come, the 14 gold from Delhi in 2010 is well within reach.
Garfoot was born in Germany but moved Down Under when she married Australian husband Chris. The 36-year-old was a latecomer to cycling and only became an Australian citizen just weeks before the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games where she won a bronze medal in the time trial.
She has since won medals at the world championships and is the reigning three-time national champion but yesterday’s win was her first gold medal at a major Games after her Rio Olympic campaign was hampered by illness.
Before the race Garfoot admitted “real life is catching up to me” but she had not yet decided whether this would be her swansong or if she would continue on to Tokyo in 2020.
“I’m flexible, I will go on holiday and think about what I want to do. It could be that I go on to Tokyo but I’m not sure,” she said.
“There’s a bit more to it than just medals. I’m old, I need money, I need superannuation so that plays a bit more of a role. Real life is catching up with me.”
But yesterday’s gold medal might just change that.
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