McKee just outside of medals in strong Youth Comm Games display

Launceston cyclist Sam McKee has finished just outside the medals in the Commonwealth Youth Games road race.

Sam McKee in action during the road race at the Commonwealth Youth Games. Picture: Commonwealth Games Australia

Launceston cyclist Sam McKee has come agonisingly close to bagging a medal after a strong road race performance at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Trinidad and Tobago.

After crashing out of his opening event in the time trial in wet conditions early Sunday morning (AEST), McKee finished fourth (1:33.55) in the road race after a mechanical issue forced him to play catch-up after being dropped from the main peloton.

McKee managed to win the group sprint for fourth spot and was 30 seconds behind Malaysian bronze medallist Newjoe Lau (1:33.25) with Northern Ireland’s Ferrity Oisin (1:33.05) claiming gold.

It was a promising display at the start of a hectic schedule for McKee, who will soon begin his campaign at the UCI Junior Track World Championships in Colombia.

“It was certainly a tough effort to get back (onto the main peloton), but once I did I thought I need to stay here and try and win the kick in the end,” McKee said.

Before he began racing at the Youth Commonwealth Games, McKee told The Mercury he had trained specifically for track after only receiving a road race call up when another Australian cyclist withdrew.

“I trained specifically for track, but I should still have pretty good legs for the road as it’s only 60km and not very hilly,” he said.

“Someone dropped out, but it was a pretty easy decision to do it as well. I think I can handle the extra race days.

“If I can survive the heat I’m hoping it (road race) will come down to a sprint. It’s not the toughest course in the world, but not everyone will still be in the bunch at the end.”

McKee is confident he can also make a mark on the track in Colombia, where Hobart’s Felicity Wilson-Haffenden will also compete.

“I’m going to have a solid crack at all of them. There’s some races I’m convinced I should do better at, probably the scratch race I have a good feeling about,” he said.

“It’s a lot of racing, but I’ve done a fair bit of work in the lead up to this. I’ve worked on building a big base and have been training with more intensity coming into it.”

Fellow Launceston cyclist Georgia Baker also secured a second straight world championships madison silver medal in Glasgow, partnering with Alex Manly.

Meanwhile, King Island middle distance runner has been selected for two events as part of Australia’s World Athletics Championship team later this month.

McSweyn will run in the 5000m and 1500m in Budapest, with the championships set down for August 19-27.