Australian cycling is ‘lost’, according to former world champion Shane Perkins

OLYMPIC medallist and former world champion Shane Perkins says Australian cycling is “lost” and has put the heat on its high performance program for answers.

02/10/14 Track cyclist Shane Perkins at his Ferryden Pk home. Shane is putting back injury behind him and set for Oceania titles in Adelaide. photo Calum Robertson

OLYMPIC medallist and former world champion Shane Perkins says Australian cycling is “lost” and has put the heat on its high performance program for answers after being smashed by Great Britain in Rio.

Perkins was dumped from the national program last October but continued to train in the hope of winning his way back on to the team for a second Games after he won a bronze medal in the sprint in London.

He was overlooked for debutant sprinter Pat Constable who joined Nathan Hart and Matthew Glaetzer who did not deliver a medal across the three disciplines in team sprint, sprint and keirin in Rio.

Great Britain won six of the 10 gold medals up for grabs on the track as well as four silver and one bronze while Australia claimed one silver and bronze.

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Perkins said he laid no blame on the athletes but said there should be changes at the top.

“It’s hard to watch, I do really feel for the athletes they put their heart and soul into it and they’ve obviously done the best that they could have,” Perkins told Fox Sports News.

“The highlights are a silver medal in the team pursuit and Anna Meares in the keirin.

“We have come away with something but we do need to do a better job. Only one gold medal since Athens to Rio, we need to assess things and potentially look at who’s overseeing things as well.

“Potentially we need to bring somebody else in there, it’s a tough job, I don’t know what the answer is, again I’m just an athlete in this.

“Hopefully we can get some support leading into Tokyo and find the direction because it seems like we are a little bit lost at the moment.

“Hopefully we can find somebody to help us get back on the top step.”

Anna Meares won a bronze in the keirin. Pic: Adam Head

Perkins did not name names but Cycling Australia’s high performance boss Kevin Tabotta said from Rio that his program had got the taper and training camp period leading into the Games wrong.

Tabotta has conceded Australia may have to stop targeting world championships every year in order to peak once every four years for the Olympics, which Perkins agrees with.

“We’ve done very well when it comes to world championships, we just need to prioritise a bit better,” Perkins said.

“Have a look at our taper, the period leading up to each four-year cycle.

“Obviously we are targeting the Olympics but we need to change the way we approach (them).”

As Australian cycling awaits a decision from its team captain Anna Meares on whether she will ride on to the 2018 Commonwealth Games, it will start talks with riders immediately ahead of an anticipated changing of the guard.

The men’s track endurance program is expected to disperse with Jack Bobridge, Michael Hepburn and Alex Edmondson all turning to the road with their professional teams.

In the women’s ranks, Annette Edmondson has indicated she’s likely to go to the road fulltime, Melissa Hoskins is taking a break and Amy Cure also has a pro road contract in Europe.

Originally published as Australian cycling is ‘lost’, according to former world champion Shane Perkins