Four unbeaten days have Matthew Glaetzer primed for Glasgow Games

MATTHEW Glaetzer capped four unbeaten days at the International Track Series in Adelaide by winning the men’s sprint.

Cycling - 22/06/14 - Adelaide Super-drome - International track series - Matthew Glaetzer in action - eventual winner of the men's sprint. Photo Sarah Reed.

MATTHEW Glaetzer capped a perfect week at the International Track Series in Adelaide tonight when he went unbeaten in four days of racing by winning the men’s sprint.

Glaetzer beat teammate Pete Lewis in the final and both say the week of racing should have them primed for the Glasgow Commonwealth Games next month.

“I had to pull out everything, the racing was really taking its toll beforehand and he’s (Lewis) a quality opponent,” Glaetzer said.

“I only just won the first race and gave it absolutely everything in the second one to make sure we didn’t go to three.

“This week is a good confidence booster. Knowing I can back up and after many races in the legs and I’ve still got good speed for the finals, it’s encouraging and looking good towards Glasgow.”

Glaetzer said this week he would rest and eat to replace the 2kg he estimated he would have lost during the big week of racing at the Adelaide SuperDrome.

Lewis put up a brave fight in the final and almost pinched the first heat.

“It was hard from quarter-finals on tonight and definitely in the final I pushed as hard as I could to beat Matty but he was too good tonight,” Lewis said.

Matthew Glaetzer, lunges at the line to win the men’s sprint against Peter Lewis.

“After five days of racing you expect to come off form a bit but I held on pretty good.

“It’s done a world of good, this week was meant to be a big training stimulus and we definitely got that — I think I had 23 rides over five days, and five weeks out that’s exactly what they wanted for us.”

Australia’s top two female sprinters Stephanie Morton and Anna Meares finished second and fourth respectively in the women’s sprint as Hong Kong’s Wai Sze Lee took gold.

Earlier, Western Australia’s Isabella King sealed victory in the women’s omnium after the scratch race and time trial, which made it two from two in the omniums in Adelaide this week.

“I didn’t really know what to expect coming in, I didn’t know a lot of girls in the field so I was quite nervous,” said King, who won a bronze medal in the team pursuit at the world titles in March.

“And I’ve just changed coach after six years and have been back on track for five or six weeks trying a lot of new things and very different training styles so I’m really pleased with how it’s going. I can’t complain with two wins.

“My old coach resigned so Clay Worthington is my coach now and I’m enjoying training more than I have ever now. Just trying different tactics in the races has been one of the best things about this whole meet and so far all of that is working out.”

Originally published as Four unbeaten days have Matthew Glaetzer primed for Glasgow Games