It’s gone full cycle and Meyer’s back on track

CAMERON Meyer is Australian cycling’s rain man.

Owner of nine rainbow jerseys — one for each of his track cycling world titles — now he wants more gold to go with them starting on the Gold Coast at the Commonwealth Games next week.

The Aussie track team’s elder statesman won three gold medals in the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games and just missed an Olympic medal in the points race at Beijing in 2008.

After dedicating most of his time since 2010 to a professional career on the road, Meyer is back where it all began and combining his track talents with a WorldTour contract with Mitchelton Scott.

Both Beijing and Delhi feel like a lifetime ago, when Meyer was the new kid on the block, because now he’s the oldest rider in the squad, setting an example on the track and off.

“It’s been eight years between major comps, but I see it as a new challenge and it’s exciting,” he said.

“I obviously can’t get around the fact that I’m the older guy in the team, and I do value that I can help the younger guys and bring some of that experience.

“It will be interesting to see how that fits in with my own comfort zone when I get to the Commonwealth Games because it has been such a long time since I’ve been.

“So I’m going to have to draw on my experiences from the world championships and go about business as usual and make sure the young guys go through their normal procedures so they can get the results they want. I guess I bring that steadiness to the group. So far it’s going well.”

Meyer will ride the points and scratch races on the track as well as the road race on the Gold Coast roads, and is an outside chance of the team pursuit and road time trial.

The 30-year-old claimed his ninth world championship — putting him two behind Anna Meares — in the Netherlands last month and said the feeling never wears off. “You don’t want to give it up because you enjoy riding around with those colours, you know what it means,” he said. “Each time I get there I’m just as excited to compete in a world championships to try to defend or win world titles and this one [points race] was hard-fought.”