Nine-time world champ sees more gold on horizon
COMMONWEALTH GAMES: Cameron Meyer is Australian cycling’s rain man.
The owner of nine rainbow jerseys – one for each of his track cycling world titles – 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 at the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games and just missed an Olympic medal in the points race in Beijing in 2008.
After dedicating most of his time since 2010 to a professional career on the road, Meyer, who has a WorldTour contract with Mitchelton Scott, is back where it all began.
Both Beijing and Delhi feel like a lifetime ago when Meyer was the new kid on the block.
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 ... I guess I bring that steadiness to the group and 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 taking on the team pursuit and road time trial.
“We’re just weighing everything up. I’ve got a busy schedule with multiple track events plus road, so the two bunch races and the road race are definite with the possibility of an extra event,” he said.
Meyer, 30, claimed his ninth world championship – putting him two behind Anna Meares – in The Netherlands last month.
After the Games he heads straight to Europe to pick up the professional road season until November, when he will return to Australia to go back on the track and pursue his goal of selection for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.