Shane Perkins Picks Up Australia’s Fifth Medal On Final Day Of Track World Cup

Victoria’s Shane Perkins wrapped up Australia’s campaign at the UCI Track World Cup in Manchester with bronze in the men’s sprint to take the team’s tally to five for the three-day competition. In other final day events, Stephanie Morton (SA) finished fifth and Anna Meares (SA) seventh in the women’s keirin; Annette EDMONDSON (SA) finished fifth in the women’s omnium and then backed up with eighth in the women’s points race while her brother Alex Edmondson (SA) took ninth in the men’s scratch. Men?s Sprint The heat was on from the start in the men?s sprint, with nine riders clocking under ten seconds in the flying 200m sprint qualification. Australia?s representatives Matthew Glaetzer (9.944), Shane Perkins (9.945) and Peter Lewis (9.957) made it through with three of the top seven fastest times. While Lewis was knocked out in the 1/8 finals by Matt Crampton (GBR), Glaetzer and Perkins won their match ups to set up a quarterfinals clash between the pair where Perkins edged his younger team mate in two heats. Germany?s Robert Forstemann got the better of Perkins in two straight heats in the semi final, while Njisane Phillip of Trinidad and Tobago defeated Crampton. In the bronze medal ride, Perkins defeated Crampton easily in two straight heats to take the bronze, while Forstemann took gold. Women?s Omnium World and Olympic bronze medalist Annette EDMONDSON finished fifth in the women?s omnium won by Olympic champion Laura TROTT of Great Britain. Edmondson entered the final day of competition just two points off the podium, but couldn?t make up ground on the rest of the field despite two top five finishes in the final three events. She finished on 28 points, two behind the bronze medal, and nine behind Trott who was a clear winner with 19 points. Women?s Points Race 20km Edmondson backed up her top five omnium showing with eighth in the women?s 20km points race. Edmondson finished on 8 points, but was a lap down on the top five riders including eventual winner, Canada?s Laura Brown. Women?s Keirin Anna Meares and fellow South Australian Stephanie Morton were Australia?s representatives in the women?s keirin. In the first round, Morton made it straight through finishing second in her heat, while Meares was forced to go through the repechage rounds after finishing fifth. In the second round, Morton won her heat while Meares just missed the final after finishing fourth in the second heat. Morton went on to finish fifth in the final won by Germany?s Kristina Vogel ahead of Becky James (GBR) and Sandie Clair (FRA). Meares easily won the 7-12 final. Men?s Scratch 15km In the final event of the night, Alex Edmondson (SA) finished ninth, with the race won by Andreas Muller of Austria. Great Britain lead the UCI Track Cycling World Cup standings after the first round with Australia second. The three-day event held at the British National Cycling Centre featured 300 of the world’s best track cyclists competing for UCI qualification points towards World Championships and Olympic Games qualification. The second round of the 2013-14 series wil be held in Aguascalientes (Mexico) from December 6, with the third and final round TBC. The 2014 UCI Track Cycling World Championships will be held in Cali (Colombia) in February.