Dan Ellis back on track after helping Australia to silver in team sprint at Oceania champs

FOUR years to the day since Dan Ellis won a Commonwealth Games gold medal he rode the fastest lap of his life in Adelaide.

CYCLING - Dan Ellis, Olympic cyclist now working for Australia Post with his eye on getting to the Rio Olympics

FOUR years to the day since Dan Ellis won a Commonwealth Games gold medal — only to later quit the sport and get a job as a postie — he rode the fastest lap of his life in Adelaide.

But his personal best standing lap at the SuperDrome was tempered by a crash in Wednesday night’s final as Australia claimed a silver medal in the team sprint on the opening night of the Oceania Championships.

The 26-year-old, who is back in the fold of Australian track sprinting after walking away from the sport in 2012, clocked 17.44 secs for his standing lap in qualifying as the Aussies got within 0.06 of world champions New Zealand.

However the final didn’t quite go to plan when Ellis’ wheel slipped at the start and he crashed after completing his lap as teammates Matthew Glaetzer and Shane Perkins finished 0.2 secs behind the Kiwis in the race for gold.

Ellis still managed a smile after escaping serious injury and knowing that his return to international sprinting was on track.

The Canberra-born rider won a gold medal in Delhi in 2010 but quit cycling after missing selection for the 2012 Olympics.

He returned in 2013 and now continues to work part-time delivering the mail for Australia Post while training with the national squad.

“The goal was to get under 17.5 (seconds) so we’re really happy considering we’ve had a decent training block coming in,” Ellis said.

“Now we go into an even deeper one which hopefully we will come out of even better, but it’s been a massive confidence boost to be in the mix with Harty (teammate Nathan Hart) and to get closer to him.

Dan Ellis crashes in the men's team sprint final at the Oceania Track Championships. Photo: Naomi Jellicoe

“I’m hoping to get a start in the Mexico world cup next month and hopefully that will give me a good run off into nationals.”

Led by two members of its current world championship team in Sam Webster and Edward Dawkins along with Matthew Archibald, New Zealand clocked 44.254 secs to claim gold on the opening night of competition.

Ellis said he was lucky to walk away from his crash with nothing more than “a bruised ego”.

“I’ve come out of the corner and was just holding the red line and got off balance over the pursuit line and tried to get out of the boys’ way,” he said.

“I’ve got a little bit of a bruised ego and a bit of skin off so not the best way to finish off the day.”

He said the support of his employer Australia Post had allowed him to continue chasing his dream on the velodrome.

“They’ve been remarkable and let me cut back on my hours to let me concentrate a bit more on my cycling,” Ellis said.

“It’s been good to back off a little bit and get that extra recovery in.”

Australia turned the tables on New Zealand in the women’s team sprint when newly crowned Commonwealth Games sprint champion Stephanie Morton paired with Kaarle McCulloch to beat Stephanie McKenzie and Katie Schofield.

Dual Olympic gold medallist Anna Meares is set to hit the track on day two of competition on Thursday when she lines up in the keirin.

Originally published as Dan Ellis back on track after helping Australia to silver in team sprint at Oceania champs