World champions blitz rivals in Bendigo International Madison

By Nathan Dole
Updated November 7 2012 - 4:31am, first published March 13 2011 - 12:08pm
OUTSTANDING: Leigh Howard and Cam Meyer celebrate their win in the Bendigo International Madison. Picture: BRENDAN McCARTHY
OUTSTANDING: Leigh Howard and Cam Meyer celebrate their win in the Bendigo International Madison. Picture: BRENDAN McCARTHY

REIGNING world champions Leigh Howard and Cameron Meyer blitzed their rivals in last night’s Bendigo International Madison track cycling classic at the Tom Flood Sports Centre.Howard and Meyer lapped the field a historic three times in a remarkable finale to the carnival’s 40th year.Howard also celebrated a hat-trick of Bendigo Madison victories, after teaming with Eaglehawk’s Glenn O’Shea in 2008 and ’09.Not just one of Australia’s best, but the world, Meyer won the southern hemisphere’s biggest madison for the first time.“Every win here is equally special. The first two with Glenn, the hometown hero, were fantastic,” said Howard, who joined Keith Oliver and Bob Whetters as winners of three consecutive Bendigo Madison.“To win with Cameron and to win so well is an incredible feeling,” Howard said.Racing in the rainbow jersey, the world champions gained the first lap on the 98th of the 200-lap duel in the classic, which was sponsored by McCaig Airconditioning in association with Daikin. There were plenty of attacks and counter-attacks as the 16-team field vied for the crucial sprint points, as well as laps.The heat was applied early by O’Shea and long-time coach Tim Decker, racing in the madison for the 16th time, along with New Zealand stars Shane Archbold and Tom Scully, and Germany’s Leif Lampater and Dutch ace Leon Van Bon.It was the Howard-Meyer solo attack at 115 laps to go which proved to be the most decisive.After a solo chase lasting 13 laps they caught the pack and took outright lead.Although they were challenged as the race went on, the No.1 team had all the answers. They lapped the field at 27 to go and then three from the finish of a dramatic contest.“Everything went much to plan,” said Meyer. “The plan was to back our ability to take laps.“We never thought we could get three, but we went in with good form after a week-long training camp leading into the world titles.”Howard said the pressure was intense early on.“After 40-50 laps they were well in front of us on sprints. “They gained a half-lap on us, so it was important to catch them.”From the first of the laps taken, Howard and Meyer pocketed the $1000 put up by John Craven and the team at Caribou Publications.The thousands of fans were rapt to see O’Shea and Decker fight on to gain third place.Although they are based in Adelaide and coaching many of the sport’s rising stars at the South Australia Institute, O’Shea and Decker again starred on a track they know so well.The boys from Bendigo figured in a lot of the sprints, with one of the biggest cheers of the night sounding out when Decker won the sprint at 150 to go. By race end, O’Shea and Decker had scored 51 points.Archbold and Scully were the runners-up on 65 sprint points as they rounded out preparations for the world titles.Lampater and Van Bon scored 47 points to be fourth. Aiming to defend several world titles, Meyer and Howard said Bendigo’s carnival was the ideal lead-up.“This is such a tough race and the pace is right on from the start,” said Howard.The field averaged 49kmh in an absorbing duel on wheels.

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