Cameron Meyer Puts the Brakes on Olympic Track Ambition
West Australian Cameron Meyer has withdrawn from the shadow track cycling team for the London Olympic Games.
The six time track world champion has announced he will concentrate on his road career and will not vie for selection for the team pursuit in London.
"It was a very hard decision to make but ultimately my passion for the team pursuit isn't 100 percent," said Meyer who rides on the road with the Australian registered GreenEDGE professional team.
On Saturday 24 year old Meyer provided one of the highlights of the 2012 world championships in Melbourne when he launched a last ditch attack that saw him snatch the gold medal in the dying moments of the 160 lap points race.
"In Melbourne I achieved what I wanted to on the track through my points race win and making the podium for the Madison," Meyer explained after arriving back in Perth with his third points race rainbow jersey and the bronze medal he claimed with Leigh Howard in the Madison. "I take huge satisfaction from that and now I want to see what I can achieve on the road."
Cycling Australia National Performance Director, Kevin Tabotta, says he accepts that it was Cameron's decision to make and appreciates him making it now so the squad can get on with the job of preparing for London.
"Of course we're disappointed because Cameron is one of our most talented cyclists but we respect his decision and we're sure we'll see big things from him as his road career develops," said Tabotta. "We have excellent depth in our men's track endurance group and, as we've seen in recent months, they are capable of posting some of the fastest times ever ridden."
Tabotta says it's impossible to know whether an Australian team pursuit with Meyer in it would be faster.
"That's something we'll never know," said Tabotta. "Cameron has not been in the line up for the pursuit since 2010 and we now won't have an opportunity of finding out if he could have reached or exceeded the level of his past pursuit performances."
Meyer admits the decision is partly because of the difficulty of switching between road and track several times during a season.
"Physically and mentally it's quite hard to switch and the last couple of years I've had my focus on the points race and the Madison," he said. "I haven't been part of the team (team pursuit) for18 months and I don't know if I am up to competing at the level they are now; riding world record times."
Meyer says watching the pursuit team race last week was emotional but he also recognised that it was not the path he wanted to follow.
"It's always hard when you see them race and feel you want to be out there and be a part of it but I knew in myself I hadn't done the workload and the training campsand the training that's required now to be part of that," said Meyer. "You need 100 percent commitment towards that to be able to do the speeds that they're doing and and push the gears that they are. I have full faith in those boys come London. I think they can win the gold medal.
"They've proven they are one of the strongest teams over the past few years and with or without me I know they'll compete for the gold medal in London."
Meyer first represented Australia at a world championships as a junior in 2005 in Austria where he claimed bronze in the team pursuit and Madison on the track and was seventh in the road time trial. The next year he won the individual pursuit, team pursuit and Madison gold in Belgium and again placed in the top ten in the road time trial. In 2006 he was selected in his first senior Cyclones team and placed fourth in the points race. He was fourth in the points race at the 2008 world championships and again in Beijing where he made his Olympic Games debut at the age of 20.
2009 saw him win the points race world title in Poland before he teamed with Leigh Howard to claim the Madison silver medal. 2010 was his most successful year at world level with a three gold medal haul (points, Madison and team pursuit) at the track world titles in Copenhagen and victory in the points race and team pursuit at the Delhi Commonwealth Games.
Meyer won a second Madison world title with Howard in 2011 and this year added a sixth world crown to his tally through the points race win in Melbourne. But for the past few years he has also been forging a career on the road that has seen him twice win the Australian elite men's time trial title and overall victory in the 2011 Santos Tour Down Under.
"I'd really like to say thanks to everyone in the Cycling Australia /AIS High Performance Program who've been with me for the past eight years since they took me to my first junior worlds and to Olympic Games and Commonwealth Games and to six world title wins," said Meyer. "They've helped me forge my name and career thus far and I'm very grateful for everything they've done to help me become the rider I am and for providing the launching pad for my professional road career.
Cycling Australia