TRACK | Madison gold & bronze; Edmondson claims dual medals in Glasgow

Photo - Argon18

Madison gold to Annette Edmondson and Georgia Baker, Madison bronze to Sam Welsford and Leigh Howard, and omnium bronze to Edmondson highlighted round two of the 2019-20 Tissot UCI Track World Cup in Glasgow

Edmondson and Baker dominated the 120-lap Madison from the outset, winning five of the first eight sprints held every ten laps, while figuring in two others, to set up a commanding lead. 

Despite a crash by Baker inside the final 15 laps, the pair kept calm and rode away with the win on 40 points ahead of Great Britain (31pts) and the Netherlands (19pts).

"The Australian women's endurance squad has been focusing on the Madison in particular over the last couple of months.

"So this result means a lot not just to us, but the entire squad back home who have been helping us prepare for this track season," said Edmondson. 

"Going into the race, we were focused on getting the little things right, wanted to make it simple, focus on the process and hope the result came.

"We are so happy to take the gold medal, and it shows all the hard work back home in Adelaide is working," said Baker.

Australia's focus now turns to the World Cup's fourth round in New Zealand from December 6-8, followed by the 2019-2020 TISSOT UCI Track Cycling World Cup on home soil at Brisbane's Anna Meares Velodrome from December 13-15.

"We head back home tomorrow, and then the New Zealand and Brisbane World Cups become our goals. There are not many more opportunities to race and practice, so to know what we are doing is working is great for the confidence," added Edmondson.  

Edmondson celebrated twice on the podium at the World Cup after claiming bronze in the four-event Omnium final. The 2015 omnium world champion finished on 111 points, just ten behind dual reigning world champion Kirsten Wild (NED). 

"Each race was close together, and it all came down to a hard points race and the final sprint to get ono the podium," said Edmondson, who finished sixth, third and fourth in the scratch, tempo and elimination races before grabbing a medal with third in the points race.

​"I'm satisfied with that performance, and we came here to try to be consistent with all the races and to make improvements on what we learned at Worlds. There were movements made forward with that regard, but still plenty of room for more improvements."

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Glasgow World Cup done and dusted for another year. Had a blast racing with @australiancyclingteam and enjoying new experiences with a great bunch. Came away with a bronze medal in the Madison with @samwelsford and 5th in the Scratch race to top off a nice first race back into the international scene. Look forward to getting back with my @aussietpboys this week and working towards our next targets in Cambridge and Brisbane now!

A post shared by Leigh Howard (@leighhoward1) on Nov 10, 2019 at 5:06pm PST

Reigning team pursuit world champion Sam Welsford and three-time Madison world champion Leigh Howard won bronze in the men's Madison. 

In a frantic race, the Australian duo were one of three teams with winners France and silver medalists Great Britain to take three laps in the 200-lap race. It was a gallant effort by the pair to find the podium after a crash by Howard with sixty laps to go, put pressure on the pairing as the race lifted in intensity over the final fifty laps. 

"We went into the race with a reasonably tight plan, and we executed it very close to what we envisaged," said Howard. "But the crash put us both under the pump, and in the end, the French pairing was too strong.

"We managed to hold third place, so not too shabby, but without the crash, I think we could have shaken things up a bit more in the last 50 laps, but that's bike racing!".

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Glasgow UCI Track World Cup done and dusted. Another couple TPs under the belt and more experience gained. Thanks @australiancyclingteam crew for the ripper week! □ @iamtrackcycling • #trackcycling #velodrome #glasgow #findyour30

A post shared by Conor Leahy (@_conor_leahy_) on Nov 10, 2019 at 1:00pm PST

Welsford finished seventh in the omnium, while Howard donned his rainbow jersey to lead a young team pursuit quartet comprised of Podium Potential Academy duo Conor Leahy and Godfrey Slattery, and guest rider Joshua Duffy to seventh. Howard also finished fifth in the scratch race. 

Baker finished seventh in the scratch race, while she also teamed with Kristina Clonan and Macey Stewart plus Podium Potential Academy member Alexandra Martin-Wallace to finish sixth in the team pursuit. 

The Podium Potential Academy represented Australia in the sprint competition with Matthew Richardson, Tom Cornish and Tom Clarke finishing eighth in the team event. Clarke was ninth in the keirin, while Richardson was eleventh in the sprint.

​Caitlin Ward won her keirin heat, before going on to win the 7-12 final to finish seventh overall.

The Australian Cycling Team Podium Potential Academy (PPA) Endurance riders raced in support of the Sport Australia #findyour30 campaign.