FAR NORTH FLYER A TRIPLE CHAMP
triple state cycling champion Brandon Hutton is proof you should never judge your career prospects by your first experience on the bike.
Sitting at Smith Park Cycledome yesterday morning after a well-earned week off training, Hutton recalled his first experience on two wheels.
“I remember I nearly fell off,” Hutton said with a laugh.
“I forgot you have to keep on pedalling.
“I went to grab on to the fence and stopped pedalling but luckily dad caught me just in time before I fell. It was a good start to cycling.”
A few years later and the Cairns Cycling Club member is one of Queensland’s – if not Australia’s – hottest junior sprinting prospects.
Hutton claimed three gold medals and one silver at the Queensland Track Championships at Brisbane’s Anna Meares Velodrome last week, and on Friday was named as part of Queensland’s under-19 team for the upcoming season.
Heading into the state titles, Hutton, who had raced against most of his rivals through the junior age groups, was feeling confident.
“I was feeling like it was going to be good, hard racing. I knew it would be difficult but felt I could come away with a couple of wins,” he said.
Hutton and his regional Queensland teammates won gold in the team sprint on night one, but it was the next night in the individual time trial he stamped his authority.
“I saw one of the kids do a 1min 5sec, so I got a bit scared as I’ve never beaten that before,” Hutton said.
“I was in the race, and I could see the other guy was beating me on the other side. I thought I’d take second but kept going. I could hear the crowd roaring and I thought ‘am I bringing this back?’.
“I crossed the finish line and I was about two seconds ahead of him.”
His 1km time trial time of 1min 4.573sec was three seconds faster than that of the elite men, which was won by Townsville’s Kristian Everett, and two seconds faster than his previous best.
The 18-year-old followed that up with a strong win in the keirin, then second in the sprint.
He will next compete against international competition at the UCI Auswide Bank Cycle Fest International at Bundaberg, which runs from February 10-17.
After that he will vie for a national title at the Australian Track National Championships in April.
“It’s an all-round carnival, so whatever races – long races, short races, team races (he will team with state teammate Duncan Allen in the madison),” he said of his events at Bundaberg.
“I expect some good racing. There’s a lot of international riders coming up from Japan and Austria, so it’ll be good to get into the mix with them and see where I am.”