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Highlights of day two of the world track championships included Anna Meares missing her fifth time-trial title, taking silver, a spectacular crash by Mathew Glaetzer seeing his bike in the stands and his skin on the track and Alex Edmondson matching his team pursuit title with an individual gold medal.
Mathew Glaetzer’s keirin aspirations hit the deck when he spectacularly crashed out on the penultimate lap in Cali, Colombia and his bike bounced into the crowd.
Glaetzer was the victim of an untidy semi-final race, forced into evasive manoeuvres on the back straight before going over the front of his bike on the home straight as riders got the bell.
After sliding on his rear end for over 25 metres, Glaetzer was helped to his feet, gingerly limping back to the pit.
His bike had to be retrieved from the stands after it landed metres from media desks and spectators.
Malaysian Azizulhasni Awang, a rider renowned for using force to win track cycling’s roughest event was later disqualified for moving off his line and causing Glaetzer to fall.
In the other semi, Shane Perkins could only manage fifth. Perkins was squeezed out on the second last turn and could not recover.
Anna Meares could only smile and shrug her shoulders as she was denied a fifth time-trial world title by German Miriam Welte.
33.548sec was well away from Meares’ two-lap world record but almost proved good enough, until the twice-silver medallist Welte took to the outdoor track.
Slow in the first 125m, Welte built her pace quickly to beat Meares at every other time check, finishing in 33.451s and securing her first individual world title.
Welte said the times all day were very fast and she wasn’t sure she was capable to overhaul Meares’ effort.
“When I saw Anna’s time, I thought, ‘My god, that’s fast. I will have to do my best and try to go faster,’” Welte said. “It’s amazing that it worked.”
Meares entered the championships looking to become the first woman to win 11 world titles. She will have to wait until Saturday night’s sprint for another chance to break that record.
On the back of a world title in the team pursuit, Alex Edmondson bore through visible pain to win his first individual pursuit title by just 0.4sec and continued the string of Australian winners in the event.
Edmondson started very fast and at times was in the same straight as his Swiss opponent, Stefan Kueng. The cost of his early speed caught up with Edmondson as his pace dropped off rapidly in the final two laps – and his form went with it.
Edmondson said he was struggling to keep it together in the final quarter of the race.
“With this outdoor track it all comes down to the last kilometre. I didn’t have very much left,” said Edmondson.
“I could see him out of the corner of my eye. I tried not to look at him but I couldn’t help it. To come across the line and win is unbelievable.
“We’ve been working bloody hard for the last couple of months.”
“I’ve done one hundred percent the best I could do with every training session whether it be early morning or rain. I went out there with one goal and dream: to be World Champion.”
In the men’s scratch race, Glenn O’Shea finished eighth, unable to lap the field despite being involved in an early breakaway.
A two-rider counter attack following the peloton’s catch of O’Shea’s group provided eventual winner Russian Ivan Kovalev with the lead he needed to take line honours.
Day three action includes:
• Glenn O’Shea in cycling’s answer to the decathlon, the two-day men’s omnium.
• O’Shea keeping busy as he lines up for men’s points race.
• Amy Cure in the women’s individual pursuit.
• The arduous men’s kilometre time-trial.
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