‘Smash him’: defection spices up Ashes velodrome battle
Murray Wenzel |
Leigh Hoffman can see why cycling casuals will fire up for the Commonwealth Games Ashes battle on wheels and admits it will get his blood pumping too.
The Australian sprint star, fresh off a rare three-medal haul at last year’s world championships, will headline the 25-strong cycling team to race at Glasgow’s Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome next month.
He will defend the team sprint gold won in Birmingham alongside Matthew Glaetzer and Matthew Richardson as Australia again look for a Games gold rush to pave the way to LA’s 2028 Olympics.
Both Matthews have gone though, with Glaetzer retired and Kent-born, Perth-raised Richardson controversially defecting to his native England barely a week after winning three medals for Australia at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
It won’t be the first time Hoffman and Richardson have tangled on the track since then, but the Australian appreciates the theatre as both men aim to defend their title in unique circumstances.
“The Aussies want me to smash him, the Brits want him to smash me and that’s the way it goes,” Hoffman said at Wednesday’s team announcement at their Brisbane headquarters.
“The first event is team sprint, but after that you’re racing against your teammates (in individual sprint and keirin), so I’d be lining up against him and trying to beat him if he was racing for Australia.
“But seeing him in GB colours … probably does bring out a bit more fire in me.
“We’re both gold medallists so the stakes are higher and the bragging rights – both in a fresh new team – will go pretty hard.
“Same man, different colours and we’ll race no matter what and I’m just striving to beat him and everyone else in the world.”
Hoffman, who turns 26 on Thursday, was the team’s starter for the Paris campaign that netted bronze, but has shifted to second wheel.
Ryan Elliott has taken Hoffman’s role and Daniel Barber is fending off Tayte Ryan for the third spot long owned by Glaezter.
Those three are among 14 who will make their Commonwealth Games debuts.
“It’ll be a big test to see where it takes us, with a snowball effect into world championships (in 2026 and 2027), then qualifying for the Olympics,” Hoffman said.
“We do this to race for gold and anything less feels like failure, but that’s high-performance sport.
“We’re not training to lose … to get any medal is a privilege, but striving for gold is what the job is.”
Tom Cornish, the reserve for the Paris Games sprint team, has moved to track endurance after netting gold and silver in Birmingham.
Paris Olympian Kristina Clonan, who beat Anna Meares’ 500m time-trial record to win gold in Birmingham, has overcome a debilitating back stress fracture and will lead the women’s team sprint.
Georgia Baker, who won three gold including the road race in Birmingham, will race in her third Games, while 2022 champion Jessica Gallagher has a new pilot in Jacqui Mengler-Mohr for the women’s tandem.
The Games run from July 23 until August 2, with track cycling events held across the final four days.
AUSTRALIAN CYCLING TEAM: Liliya Tatarinoff, Blake Agnoletto, Gordon Allan, Georgia Baker, Daniel Barber, Oliver Bleddyn, Kristina Clonan, Thomas Cornish, Sophie Edwards, Ryan Elliott, Jessica Gallagher, Leigh Hoffman, Conor Leahy, Claudia Marcks, Alessia McCaig, Molly McGill, Jacqui Mengler-Mohr, James Moriarty, Tara Neyland, Erin Normoyle, Kane Perris, Alyssa Polites, Tayte Ryan, Felicity Wilson-Haffenden, Luke Zaccaria
AAP