#GC2018 - TRACK ENDURANCE - GUIDE

The Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games Track competition will take place at the Anna Meares Velodrome (Brisbane) from Thursday 5 to Sunday 8 April.

It will feature 20 events - eight endurance, eight sprint and four para-cycling - with the eight track endurance events to include the points race and scratch race, and the team and individual pursuits.  The team pursuit is set to make its Commonwealth Games debut for women.
 
The 2018 Games is likely to provide a milestone for team, with Australia having won 96 Commonwealth Games cycling gold medals.

WOMEN'S TEAM

Photo - Cycling Australia

 A six-member women’s endurance squad with a rich blend of World Championship, Olympic and Commonwealth Games experience will line up for Australia at the Games.
 
Reigning Games scratch race champion Annette Edmondson, 26 (SA) is back on the track for her second Games, with the dual world champion eyeing a spot in Australia’s team pursuit quartet for the event’s debut.
 
Edmondson’s 2015 team pursuit world champion teammates Amy Cure, 25 (TAS) and Ashlee Ankudinoff, 27 (NSW) will provide tremendous experience and multiple options for all four events.
 
Cure, a dual 2014 Games medallist and 2014 points race world champion, is fresh from two national championship crowns in the scratch and points races. Ankudinoff, Australia’s only dual world champion in the team pursuit, boasts two World Championship medals in the individual format.
 
Dual individual pursuit world champion Rebecca Wiasak, 33 (ACT), who narrowly missed selection to the 2014 Commonwealth and 2016 Olympic teams, will make her major Games debut.
        
2016 Olympian Georgia Baker, 23 (TAS) overcame heart surgery in November to make her first Games team, while Alexandra Manly, 22 (SA) will also make her debut.  Manly, with Cure, Ankudinoff and Wiasak claimed silver at the 2017 World Championships, less than half a second behind world champions USA.

MEN's TEAM

Photo - Kevin Anderson

The seven-member men’s endurance squad might feature six Games debutants, but the team enjoys a wealth of experience, collectively boasting 19 rainbow jerseys and countless options for the pursuit and bunch races.
 
Triple 2010 Games gold medallist Cameron Meyer, 30 (WA) returns to the Australian team and enters fresh from claiming the points race world crown last month, his ninth career rainbow jersey.
 
Like his fellow Perth native, Olympic team pursuit silver medallist and reigning individual pursuit national champion Samuel Welsford, 22 (WA) will be a threat in any race, as will three-time world champion Leigh Howard, 28 (VIC) who receives his first Games nod.  
 
Hometown fans will be eager to see Jordan Kerby, 25 (QLD) in action, with the 2017 individual pursuit world champion rocketing to cult hero status after riding to the third fastest time in history just months after returning to track cycling.    
 
Rounding out the side is 2017 world champions Alexander Porter, 21 (SA), Nicholas Yallouris, 24 (NSW), plus Kelland O’Brien, 19 (VIC) - the youngest member of Australia’s 36-member cycling team.
 
While the men’s, and women’s, track endurance teams bypassed March’s World Championships a part of the Australia Cycling Team strategy to focus on the Games, the quartet of O'Brien, Yallouris, Kerby and Howard soared to Oceania gold last November in 3min 52.421secs - one of the top ten fastest pursuit times in history. 
 
The focus for both squads lies firmly with the team pursuit on day one, with the exact line up for each of the four events, to be confirmed closer to the competition start date.

WHEN ARE THEY RACING? 

• Day 1 - April 5: Women's 4000m Team Pursuit; Men's 4000m Team Pursuit  
• Day 2 - April 6: Women's 3000m Individual Pursuit; Men's 4000m Individual Pursuit  
• Day 3 - Sat April 7: Women's 25km Points Race; Men's 15km Scratch Race  
• Day 4 - April 8: Women's 10km Scratch Race; Men's 40km Points Race  

HOW CAN I WATCH?
​

• ​TV - Channel 7 will broadcast GC2018 on three free-to-air channels – 7, 7TWO & 7Mate
• Mobile - download the 7CommGames app from both Google Play & Apple store
• Web - 7commgames.com.au 

HOW DO I FOLLOW?

Follow all the action at commonwealthgames.com.au, or via the official CommGamesAUS social media channels / #TeamAus ​

PHOTOS

Photos © Kevin Anderson, and Cycling Australia.