GLENN O'Shea reminded Australian cycling fans of his brilliance on Saturday with a superb performance to win the 40km points race at the Track National Championships in Adelaide.
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The Bendigo rider secured his second national points score title in emphatic style.
O'Shea lapped the field six times in the 160-lap event, scoring 151 points, 28 clear of Jack Bobridge, with Trent Derecourt in third place on 82 points.
“That was really hard, it was alright for the first 10 laps and then after that it was just a ‘grovel’,” laughed O’Shea.
“At the start I took my moments got away and got some laps and had them chasing me for the rest of the event.
“Late in the race I managed to get that lap up and then we (Jack Bobridge) just had to limp round together a bit and I just had to follow him which isn’t easy in the last 15 laps.
“Because we were putting the hammer down, I was hurting a lot, but I knew if I could just hang in there, I could take the gold medal.”
It was O'Shea's second gold medal of the meet, having led South Australia to victory in the team's pursuit.
Adelaide-based O'Shea now returns to his home state of Victoria for this week's Herald-Sun Tour where he will ride for KordaMentha Team Australia.
The 24-year-old will be one of the favourites for Wednesday night's 2.5km prologue through the Melbourne CBD.
O'Shea's performance capped an outstanding national carnival for Bendigo cyclists.
Teenager Braeden Dean won his third gold medal of the championships on Saturday when he led Victoria to victory in the under-19 men's team sprint.
Earlier in the carnival, Dean won gold in the under-19 men's kilo and under-19 men's keirin.
Dean finished second to Korea's Jeone Park in the under-19 men's sprint, but was crowned national champion because he was the best placed Australian.
Fellow Bendigo cyclist Beth Duryea won the silver medal in the women's 10km scratch race behind Annette Edmondson on Saturday night.
