Image (c) Cycling-Inform 2009

Written by Mal Sawford and Jump Media. Republished from CCCC's Website

Regular pep talks from Victorian football legend Tom Hafey continue to pay dividends for Victorian cyclist Shane Perkins, who tonight added his name to the illustrious Austral Wheelrace honour roll, after winning the 111th edition at Hisense Arena in Melbourne. Other CCCC'ers to claim the Austral in recent years include Mark French (2001), Stephen Pate (1988, 1991, 1993 & 1999) and Troy Clarke (1996).

Perkins, 22, who started off the backmark (15 metres), led for the entire last lap, and despite a late challenge from Malaysia's Azizul Awang, held on to take out the 2000m race by half a bike length.

The four-time national champion's victory was popular amongst the punters as he was backed into equal $2 favouritism with Awang.

Starting off 30 metres, Awang, the Asian keirin champion, came up on Perkin's shoulder with one lap to go, however was forced to play bridesmaid for the second year in a row.

Australian Institute of Sport rider Jason Niblett (90 metres) finished third.

Perkins who has overcome significant personal problems on and off track over the last 12 months, including a suspension prior to the Beijing Olympics for disciplinary reasons, heaped praise on his family, friends, support staff and Hafey after the win.

"Tommy's been great. He's a fantastic guy, I sat down with him a few weeks before the nationals and it's been great to get his feedback," said Perkins, who was introduced to Hafey through his grandfather, 1943 Richmond premiership player Polly Perkins.

"It's fantastic to win this race. My dad raced it and I've grown up in cycling watching this race - Neiwand, Pate, these sorts of guys over 111 years, it's a prestigious list."

Perkins was full of admiration for VIS teammate Joel Leonard.

"We had a good train going, Joel did a mountain of work to get us to the front, and that helped our cause," he said. Shane also triumphed in the Elite sprint series and won his heat of the wheelrace to qualify for the final to end the night unbeaten.

Since missing the Beijing Olympics, Perkins has been on a barnstorming victory ride, collecting gold at the UCI Track World Cup in Melbourne and four gold medals at the recent national track titles in Adelaide.

He will now turn his attention to the world track championships in Poland, where his main focus is the team sprint.

Perkins progressed through to the final without raising a sweat, confirming his favourite status amongst the bookies.

His task was made that little bit easier, when the in form South Australian Jack Bobridge, who was one of only two riders starting off scratch, was knocked out in heat six, whilst last year's winner Jackson-Leigh Rathbone (15m) was also eliminated in the same heat.

The night wasn't a complete waste for Bobridge who won the elimination and scratch races, edging out New South Wales speedster Ben Kersten on both occasions.

Source: http://www.carnegiecycling.com.au/?c=News&p=M_News&nid=1900

Written by Amy McCann, Wednesday, 31 December 2008

The Big V named for 2009 Australian Track Championships, Adelaide, February 3-8.

CycleSport Victoria is pleased to announce the 31 member 2009 Victorian track cycling team that will contest the 2009 Australian Track Cycling Championships in Adelaide, February 3-8.

After claiming the  Robina Joy Trophy for the past two years, the Elite Men's team will once again be expected to shine, with recent Melbourne Track World Cup gold medallists Shane Perkins (Carnegie-Caulfield CC) and Jason Niblett (Horsham CC) headlining the team.

Australia Cyclone and defending national kilo champion Joel Leonard (Footscray CC) will also line up in sprint events, with Ben Sanders (Carnegie-Caulfield CC) to make his debut in the elite category after winning three medals in the JM19 events last year.

Beijing Olympic Gold medallist Michael Gallagher (Carnegie-Caulfield CC) will also be looking to defend his LC1 time trial and pursuit crowns.

In the endurance events, Victoria will once again be the one to beat, with Glenn O'Shea (Bendigo & District CC) & Leigh Howard (Geelong CC) leading the squad which also features Commonwealth Games Points gold medallist Sean Finning (Castlemaine CC) and former junior world track representative James Langedyk (Geelong CC). 

The quartet joined forces last year to win teams pursuit gold, with Howard (scratch) and O'Shea (omnium) both dual gold medallists.

Former Australian road cyclist Helen Kelly (Carnegie-Caulfield CC) and dual 2008 silver medallist Tess Downing (Carnegie-Caulfield CC) will lead a fresh women's team which features three debutants.

2008 Melbourne to Warrnambool finisher Nicole Whitburn (Carnegie-Caulfield CC) will look to use her road cycling credentials to good use on the track, with newcomers Jessica Laws (Carnegie-Caulfield CC) and Chloe McConville (Carnegie-Caulfield CC) earning their spots with recent strong form on the Victorian circuit.

In the junior mens 19 team, dual 2008 Australian junior champion Maddison Hammond (Northcote CC) will look to impress at his first senior nationals.  Hammond, the son of former Australian cyclist Gary, took wins in the scratch, keirin, sprint and time trial at the Victorian Championships in mid December.  

Finishing second to Hammond in the keirin, sprint and time trial at those championships was fellow Victorian team mate Aaron Box (Geelong CC) who will make his second senior nationals appearance, whilst recent Victorian champions Patrick Drapac (Brunswick CC) and debutant Brent Nelson (Blackburn CC) will also line up in the big V skinsuit.

The womens 19 team sees the return of Kendelle Hodges (Brunswick CC), Carly McCoombe (Bendigo & District CC) and Naomi Pinto (Blackburn CC), with Shannon McCurley (La Trobe CC) and Melzy Feltham (Brunswick CC), making their senior debut.

Team Manager Ian Maher is excited by the performances by team members at the recent Victorian track Championships.

"I believe that the mix of experience and youth in this year's team should blend together well in Adelaide," Ian Maher said adding, "and we will certainly be aiming to come home once again as the top cycling state."

Source: http://www.vic.cycling.org.au/?Page=20041

The gold medal final of the men's sprint was always going to be a French-Australian affair - Shane Perkins met compatriot Jason Niblett and François Pervis took on countryman Michaël D'Almeida in their respective semi finals.

After D'Almeida beat Pervis and Perkins eliminated Niblett in the semis, D'Almeida and Perkins faced each other in the premier match race of the evening. It was the Australian who drew first blood in the opening heat, as D'Almeida noticeably stood off the wheel of Perkins in the back straight and virtually gifted him the win. Perkins didn't look back and motored home to a time of 10.617.

In the second heat it was obvious that the Australian had the Frenchman's measure, powering away in the final bend as a hapless D'Almeida backed off the gas and conceded defeat. Perkins' delight was palpable, and the crowd drew a collective sigh of relief as they witnessed the local boy savouring the cheers from his home fans.

"I feel great, especially in front of a home crowd, with all the sponsors who have helped me out - it's great to give something back to them and Cycling Australia too," said Perkins after the presentation ceremony. "That feels good, and hopefully they feel good about it too… Australia has done a fantastic job with this world cup and the pressure associated with that. We've come out with some awesome results.

"It's funny how the legs came good tonight - the 200 was a bit shaky but the legs came good and I was happy with that. It just showed that the training we've been doing is working. D'Almeida back off a bit to get a good run at me but I wasn't stopping; I think he backed off a little too much and he just couldn't make it up.

"I do think we need to get some confidence back after Beijing, and we're on the way there - I mean, we're Australians. Our attitude is to get out there and give it your best. Everyone's doing that, and nobody's holding back."

It was therefore left to Niblett and Pervis to battle it out for the bronze medal, and the two proved to be well-matched, enthralling the crowd with some excellent sprinting. In the final reckoning however, it was Niblett who prevailed with a powerful display, taking the bronze without the need for a decider.

"It was unfortunate that Perko and I had to race each other in the semis - that's racing. Going by what just happened it could have been an all-Aussie final but, oh well…" said Niblett. "In saying that though, the French are at the top of their game at the moment, and they've been at the peak of the world scene for some time now.

"For both of us to knock off the French is good to have on the resume, anyway. Basically, the crew we've got now didn't go to the Olympics, except for Dan. We're a bit hungry and have a point to prove - they've [the French] got results and we want our results. It's the start of the season, and we can really only go upwards from here. There's still stuff to work on."

Source: Cyclingnews.com
http://www.cyclingnews.com/track/2008/worldcup0809/melbourne08/?id=results/melbourne086

SHANE Perkins provided Australia with the perfect ending to the Melbourne round of track cycling's World Cup when he claimed the sprint gold medal.

Source: The Australian

In the last event at the three-day meet, Perkins blitzed Frenchman Michael D'Almeida, the fastest qualifier, in two straight heats in the best-of-three final, stopping the clock at 10.7sec for the final 200m.

"I know I could have gone faster. I did a 10.1 in Manchester," Perkins said. When pressed if he could break the magical 10 second barrier, he added: "I've still got a lot of work ahead of me, but I'll never say never.

"I'm looking forward to racing against Robbie McEwen and Graeme Brown at the Revolution IV meet back in Melbourne next month before tackling the Christmas carnivals in Tasmania.

"It will be interesting to see how Robbie goes because he hasn't ridden the track for a while, while Brownie has a strong background in the discipline."

The 21-year-old from Chadstone in Melbourne's southeast and son of Tokyo Olympian Daryl, credits fatherhood and a new coach in Sean Eadie for the rapid improvement after missing Olympic selection for Beijing.

He and wife Kristine Bayley, herself a former national track cyclist and sister of dual Athens gold medallist Ryan, have a baby boy, Aidan, and Perkins credits his family for helping settle him.

"The little bloke is just seven weeks old and with parenting comes added responsibility," Perkins said.

"While Hilton Clarke turned me into a rider while I was at the VIS, credit must go to Sean (Eadie) for sharpening me up.

"At some point we've all got to grow up and it's happening for me now," Perkins said.

His convincing win gave Australia five gold medals for the round to top the medal tally.

After falling to Perkins in their semi-final, Jason Niblett settled for the bronze medal, beating Frenchman Francois Pervis in two straight heats.

Perkins missed selection for the Beijing Olympics and has had some disciplinary problems off the bike, but the two-time junior world champion has declared he is determined to make the most of his undoubted potential.

Australia also won silver on Saturday night in the women's teams pursuit and the 40km madison, while Kaarle McCulloch finished third in the 500m time-trial.

Australian Emily Rosemond was nursing a sore hip and track burns down her right side after crashing in the keirin ride-off for seventh to 12th. New Zealander Natasha Hansen, who was disqualified, also crashed when they touched wheels only a few metres from the finish.

In the women's teams pursuit final, the Australian trio of Ashlee Ankudinoff, Josephine Tomic and Sarah Kent could never quite match the British combination of Elizabeth Armistead, Katie Colclough and Joanne Rowsell.

The Brits clocked 3min 29.890sec to Australia's 3:30.506.

The Spainish pair of Unai Elorriaga and David Muntaner won the madison from the Australian duo of Chris Sutton and Cameron Meyer.

Heading into the final sprint Spain had the gold medal locked up but, but the Sutton-Meyer combination was level on points with Germany.

Meyer attacked on the final lap and held on to fourth across the line to pick up the one point needed to edge Germany for silver.

Source: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24694853-2722,00.html

Shane Perkins gave Australia the perfect finish to the Melbourne round of track cycling's World Cup when he easily won the sprint gold medal.

In the last event of the three-day Cup round, Perkins had far too much speed for Frenchman Michael D'Almeida, the fastest qualifier.

Perkins, who qualified second, easily won their best-of-three final 2-0.

After falling to Perkins in their semi-final, compatriot Jason Niblett also won his bronze medal ride-off 2-0, beating Frenchman Francois Pervis.

Perkins missed selection for the Beijing Olympics and has had some disciplinary problems off the bike, but the two-time junior world champion has declared he is determined to make the most of his undoubted potential.

He and wife Kristine Bayley, herself a former Australian track cyclist, have a baby boy, Aidan, and Perkins credits his family for helping settle him.

Perkins' convincing win gave Australia five gold medals for the Cup round and they topped the medal tally.

Australia also won silver on Saturday night in the women's teams pursuit and the madison, while Kaarle McCulloch was third in the 500m time trial and fourth in the keirin final.

Australian Emily Rosemond was nursing a sore hip and track burns down her right side after crashing in the keirin ride-off for seventh to 12th.

New Zealander Natasha Hansen, who was disqualified, also crashed when they touched wheels only a few metres from the finish.

In the women's teams pursuit final, the Australian trio of Ashlee Ankudinoff, Josephine Tomic and Sarah Kent could never quite match the British combination of Elizabeth Armistead, Katie Colclough and Joanne Rowsell.

The British clocked three minutes 29.890 seconds to Australia's 3:30.506.

Spain's Unai Elorriaga and David Muntaner won the madison on 19 points, well clear of the seven points that Australians Chris Sutton and Cameron Meyer scored.

McCulloch briefly had the fastest time in the 500, posting 34.844 seconds.

But Dutch rider Willy Kanis then clocked 34.657 and China's Jinjie Gong rode 34.676.

Kanis also dominated the keirin final for her third gold medal of this round, having also combined with Yvonne Hijgenaar on Friday night to win the teams sprint.

Source: AAP

Source: The Age, Written by Samantha Lane

Shane Perkins has the form, and now wants the favour of Australian cycling.

EVEN the most empathetic observer of Shane Perkins' relatively infant, but regularly stalled, track cycling career would conclude that the 21-year-old has used up his second chances.

Source: Cyclingnews.com
Shane Perkins, one of the Australians who will line up for the UCI Track World Cup in Melbourne, is looking at the event on November 20-22, as another second chance for his young career. Six weeks ago, Perkins became a father, and he's looking to make up for past mistakes and move beyond his troubled, past racing career.

Just 21-years-old now, Perkins became the third-youngest winner of a medal (bronze) at the Commonwealth Games at age 19; however, in the two years since then, he was cut from both the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) and the Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS). Two alcohol-related incidents saw him punished with a ban that took him out of the competition loop in the run-up to the Olympic Games. Perkins was not selected to represent Australia in the Olympic Games in 2008.

"I concede that I was drunk and I was at a nightclub at three in the morning and just that in itself, I know now, is pointless," he said to theage.com.au about the incident that resulted in a ban earlier this season. "It was an argument with a guy who I was actually friends with, and then it got blown out of proportion."

Perkins was banned for three months by Cycling Australia, and VIS suspended his scholarship for six months – later reducing it to four months after Perkins agreed to do community service work with children.

The mother of Perkins' child, fiancée Kristine, is the sister of Australian sprint star Ryan Bayley who underwent a public falling out with Perkins earlier this year. Proving that people can change, Perkins characterized his improved relationship with his brother-in-law and fellow competitor as "neutral".

"I've made some mistakes, and I can't just stand here and say, 'Geez, I'm sorry'. The only way I can give something back is by giving them results," said Perkins of his new outlook.

Coming off the Oceania Track Championships in Adelaide this weekend with a win in the team sprint (with Daniel Ellis and Scott Sunderland) and the keirin and a second place in the individual sprint, Perkins looks poised for success going into the Melbourne World Cup. He his performances will help him make the Australian team selection for the UCI Track World Championships in Poland in March.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2008/nov08/nov16news

Aussie Shane Perkins wins his heat
Photo ©: Gerry McManus

Source: Cyclingnews.com

The big prize money on offer has once again attracted a big field to the JKA International Keirin event. The racing began well – once again – for the home team as Great Britain's Matt Crampton took the first race from Kazunari Watanabe of Japan; the second went to Michael Almeida (US Creteil) from World Kilometre champion Teun Mulder of the Netherlands.

Fresh from racing in Japan, Olympic silver medallist Ross Edgar (Sky+ HD) struck out with more than two laps to go in heat three to take the win, with teammate Jason Kenny – who appears to have recovered from yesterday's crash – following him home.

The repechages saw Denis Dmitriev (Russia), Christos Volikakis (Greece) and Adam Ptacnik (Czech Republic) go through in the first race, and Shane Perkins (Australia) – who also seems to have recovered from yesterday's crash – go through with Denis Spicka (Czech Republic) and Andriy Vynokurov (Ukraine).

"Not too bad," said Perkins of the after-affects of yesterday's sprint final crash, "it just took a little bit to get warmed up and get a bit of the soreness out with the warm up, but the first race was almost the warm up because I was pretty tired this morning. It's all right, I don't feel it too much while I'm out there, but I'm guessing on the plane flight home I'm definitely going to feel it."

"He's going really well," he said of Edgar's first round dominance, "just coming off Japan as well, and obviously he and Jason Kenny are just in a class of their own.

"They raced well, and obviously two of them in the heat sort of helps, gives them more confidence and they sort of help each other out. That always helps, but you can't take away from the good form they've got either."

Looking forward to the later rounds, Perkins felt good about his chances, especially with the added incentive attached to this competition. "My legs are feeling better now I've had a couple of rides and see how we go," he said. "Hopefully we can get in the final and, you know, there's money up for grabs."

http://www.cyclingnews.com/track/2008/worldcup0809/manchester08/?id=results/manchester086

Source: Cyclingnews.com

Aussie Shane Perkins hopes to end Britain's dominance
Photo ©: Gerry McManus

After qualifying fastest with a 200m time of 10.138, Olympic silver medallist Jason Kenny (Sky+ HD) has made his way to the semi-final stages of the men's sprint where he will face compatriot Matt Crampton of the Great Britain team. Kenny advanced by getting some kind of revenge over Cofidis' Francois Pervis, who beat him so narrowly in last night's Keirin final.

It wasn't all plain sailing for the home riders though as second fastest qualifier David Daniell – winner of last night's kilometre time trial – was knocked out by Frenchman Michael D'Almeida of US Creteil in the quarter finals and Craig MacLean (Plowman Craven) was beaten one round earlier by Germany's Mathias Stumpf.

Facing D'Almeida in the semi-finals is Shane Perkins of Australia, who will be keen to put an end to the current British dominance should he get past the Frenchman.

"I hope so," he told Cyclingnews, "that's the plan anyway; just got to get past this guy first. We got two rounds here, maybe three, just keep going along and see how we go."

Passing through the qualification rounds undefeated has given Perkins confirmation that his season is starting well. "I'm pretty happy with the way we're going," he confirmed. "We've been doing a lot of hard work in the off season and it's paying off."

With this confidence, Perkins feels that he should be able to get past D'Almeida and on to face one of the two Britons. "I'll get out there and give him a run for his money," he said, "and hopefully I can come out on top and get into the final."

"I haven't raced since the Worlds here, so obviously it was a little bit nerve-wracking, but I've pulled it all together and it's come together pretty well. I'm just happy with the way everything's going, yeah."

On the question of Australian sprinting being able to rise again and take on the current dominance of the British, Perkins was bullish: "Obviously it's going to take some time to get it all back together, but we'll get there," he said defiantly.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/track/2008/worldcup0809/manchester08/?id=results/manchester083

Source: Cyclingnews.com

Kenny crosses the line first on his butt
Photo ©: Gerry McManus

Sky+ HD’s Jason Kenny took the men’s sprint in spectacular fashion as he and silver medallist Shane Perkinsof Australia both crossed the line on their backs in the second race. Kenny, having won the first race was pronounced the winner and gold medallist as he crossed the line first. The first race had been a close affair with Perkins just failing to overcome the Olympic silver medallist, and the second was just as tight until the pair came together with just a few metres remaining. Both riders were unhurt save for a few friction burns from the track surface.

"That was a bit different, wasn’t it!" joked Kenny as he warmed down afterwards. "We just came together in the home straight, I think he went down first and then eventually I went down as well. I watched the replay; I don’t think it was anyone’s fault as such, we just kind of came together a little bit and unfortunately we ended up on the floor. Nine times out of ten you just bounce off each other.

"It is tricky," he explained, "me and Matt [Great Britain team mate Crampton] touched in our race and it was fine, I’ve touched people before and it’s fine... it’s just sometimes you get it a bit awkward and someone goes down; and we both went down that time.

"It’s no big deal, it’s part and parcel of what we do really," he added. "I was pleased with the result, obviously," he said, smiling, "They all count - it doesn’t matter how you finish. I knew he was going to be a really good race, and to beat him I was going to have to do my best and make sure I made no mistakes, and I was really pleased.

"I was pleased with my race in the semi’ [where he bested compatriot Crampton in two races] and so I just needed to carry it on - to try to carry it into the final really, and I just did enough in the first one and just held on to it in the second one."

Perkins overcame Michael D’Alemida of US Creteil to reach the final against Kenny, but the Australian was just unable to beat the young Briton on his home track. He too was philosophical about the second lap incident. "I was coming up the straight," he explained to Cyclingnews, "both [of us] going for it, wrapped handlebars and we both came down. It’s all part of racing though. It happens."

Getting over his disappointment for being beaten by Kenny in the semi-final, Crampton beat D’Almeida in two races to take the bronze.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/track/2008/worldcup0809/manchester08/?id=results/manchester084