Johnson and Morton set world record in Omnium

South Australia's Felicity Johnson & pilot Stephanie Morton have clocked a world record in the tandem flying 200m at the 2012 Cycling Australia Omnium, Para-cycling and Madison National Championships at Melbourne's DISC Velodrome while South Australia's Glenn O'Shea and Ashlee Ankudinoff have claimd the elite omnium titles.

The time of 11.456 ridden by Johnson and Morton bettered the mark of Great Britain's Aileen McGlynn and pilot Helen Scott (11.481) set in September this year. The pair have been in blistering form coming close to a second world record time to win yesterday's one kilometre time trial.

In the elite men's omnium South Australia's O'Shea dominated across the two days, winning four of the six events in the points, elimination, pursuit and time trial and finishing runner up in the flying lap. His only lapse was a sixth place in the scratch race.

The omnium is a true test of stamina, speed and endurance with competitiors racing in six events over two days - the flying 250m lap, points, elimination and scratch races, the individual pursuit and a time trial. Points are awarded to each rider based on placings in the events and the cyclist with the lowest tally at the end is the winner.

"The main reason I came here was to win obviously, but to also post some good times and I think I did that across the board in the two days," said O'Shea who also claimed the title in 2008. "I only had one little slip up in the scratch race, so I am pretty happy."

He finished on 12 points, six points clear reigning champion Scott Law (NSW) who posted wins in the flying lap and scratch races to take the silver medal on 17 points.

O'Shea's South Australian team mate Alex Edmondson (18 points) collected four second placings on his way to taking the bronze medal.

Since returning to the bike twelve months ago following bouts of chicken pox and glandular fever, O'Shea has continued to surprise himself and impress onlookers.

"Twelve months ago I wasn't even riding my bike so to where I have come now, I am pretty happy. It is definitely going in the right direction, that's for certain," said O'Shea who claimed the pursuit and Madison (with Edmondson) gold medals at last month's Astana round of the UCI Track World Cup.

"It's the old cliché of taking it one step at a time, but this year I really have been ticking the boxes and today is another one ticked.

"I have another next month in the world cup and then after that, we will just see what comes of it," he added.

O'Shea now turns his attention to Saturday night's Madison championships where he will partner Edmondson in a strong field headlined by reigning world champions Leigh Howard and Cameron Meyer

"Alex is in good form as well, but we will be up against the world champs, but in saying that I have raced with and against them both and I have beaten them before, so we will of course be disappointed if we don't win," added O'Shea.

Reigning Oceania champion Ashlee Ankudinoff's return to competitive racing continues to gain momentum with the Sydney rider reclaiming the Australian women's title in a powerful performance.

Ankudinoff claimed wins in the flying lap, pursuit and time trial, third place in the points race and was fourth in the elimination. She also finished sixth in the scratch race.

"I couldn't ask for any better really, it is so good to see the hard work and no short cuts in training has really paid off," said Ankudinoff who won three of six events across the two days.

Ankudinoff, a member of Australia's 2010 team pursuit world champion lineup and the 2010 Australian omnium champion, missed most of 2011 due to a sciatic nerve injury.

She returned to the international scene last month at the Astana round of the UCI Track World Cup where she contested the team pursuit, before winning the omnium and scratch race at the Oceania Championships in Invercargill last month.

"After the Commonwealth Games in 2010, I made the decision to have time off the bike if I wanted any chance of contesting the Olympics," said the twenty-one-year-old. "Now I have been training for about eight months for this and it was always going to be hard to come back into the team environment as there are so many riders now.

"I knew I had the whole year of 2011 to train and I had all the faith in Gary Sutton and he had the faith and backed me too.

"So to come back and really stamp my mark here, it just shows that I am back and ready for a good 2012," added Ankudinoff.

West Australian Isabella King and South Australian Annette Edmondson each finished on 21 points but with King awarded the silver medal due to a faster time when the pursuit, flying lap and 500 metre time trial times were tallied.

In the Para-cycling pursuits reigning world champion and world record holder Michael Gallagher (VIC) claimed his second gold medal in as many days with a win in the C5 category, covering the 4000m distance in a time of 4:42.709, two seconds faster than his qualifying time and catching opponent Loz Shaw at the mid way point of the race.

"I think that's the first time I've gone faster in a final when I've had two pursuits in one day, so I am pretty happy with that and the time in general," said Gallagher who shaved two seconds off his qualifying time. 

Gallagher won gold in the C5 kilometre time trial on Thursday and earlier this year, broke his own world record on his way to winning the pursuit title at the UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships in Italy.

"You never know when you'll get to ride in (the rainbow jersey) it again, so it is definitely a good feeling to put it on a do it proud with a good time," said Gallagher who now looks ahead to the 2012 Para-cycling world titles to be held in Los Angeles in February.

"The preparations this year have been even better than at this time last year and the times then were really good, so hopefully it all continues to go well over the next few months," added Gallagher.

Like Gallagher, triple 2011 world champion Susan Powell (ACT) secured her second gold of the championships in the C4 individual pursuit defeating Alexandra Green (NSW) in the final.

Powell, who took gold in the time trial in Thursday's opening session, was in control from start to finish, crossing the line in 4:08.227, comfortably ahead of Green who posted 4:22.156.

New South Wales' Simone Kennedy won the C3 pursuit, covering the 3000m distance in a time of 4:41.530.

"I am really pleased with the win, but not the time. I thought I went out a bit too fast and hopefully I will learn from today and go a bit better next time," said seventeen-year-old Kennedy who won the time trial on Thursday.

Fellow time trial gold medalist, West Australian Claire McLean posted a time of 4:07.311 to secure the gold medal in the C5 event, while Victoria's Glen Jarvis added to his time trial gold medal in the men's C2 3000m taking gold in a time of 4:48.071.

In the C4 final, Ryan Hughes time of 5:06.128 was enough to secure the bronze medal for the Tasmanian, while Jarrad Langmead (4:38.619) was just two tenths of a second outside of winning a medal in the C1 pursuit final.

In the men's tandem 4000m pursuit final, Bryce Lindores (QLD) and pilot Mark Jamieson (TAS) continue to surprise themselves, winning their second gold medal of the championships and closing in on the world record.

In the final, the pair shaved seven seconds off their morning qualifying time to post 4:19.801, less than two seconds outside the world record of 4:18.166 held by Australians Kieran Modra and pilot Tyson Lawrence.

"It was awesome considering we have only been riding together for seven days, and raced together for the first time yesterday in the time trial," said Lindores. "You can't ask much more going within two seconds of the world record in our third ride ever."

"Give us a few more weeks to gain some familiarity with each other, plus a few more kilometres and hopefully we can go even quicker," Lindores added.

The New South Wales pair of Matt Formston (NSW) and pilot Philip Thuaux were caught by their rivals inside the final kilometre to finish second.

In the women's tandem final, Canberra's Brandie O'Connor and pilot Kerry Knowler won gold with their time of 3:48.276.

Consistency was the key for New South Wales' Tirian McManus who usurped reigning junior world, Oceania and Australian champion Caleb Ewan to win the under 19 omnium title.

In a thrilling finale, McManus led Ewan by just one point heading into the final event, the 1000m time trial. McManus trailed Ewan for most of the distance before pulling out a blistering final lap to secure the win.

"This win is the highlight of my career for sure," said McManus who already owns more than half a dozen Australian titles in the junior ranks.

The time trial was McManus' only first placing in the six events, however three second place results ( flying lap, elimination and points race) and top five finishes in the pursuit and scratch helped him cement the victory.

He finished on 16 points, two ahead of Ewan (18 points) whose tenth place in the points race proved too hard to come back from. Victoria's Jack Cummings took the bronze medal on 25 points.

"The idea at the start was to finish as close as I could to Caleb, and I knew I had a strong pursuit and them in the final lap of the time trial, I gave it everything I had," said McManus. "I had absolutely nothing left at the end, so this is fantastic."

The victory was even sweeter for McManus who took a year off to focus on studying for his HSC. The seventeen-year-old will study business at Univeristy in 2012.

"I juggled studying and cycling and given I spent so long off the bike, this is a huge win for me right off the back of year twelve," he said. "I think the break helped me mentally and gave my body a break and fresh start."

Reigning junior omnium world champion Taylah Jennings clinched her second straight Australian omnium title with a dominant display in the women's under 19 event.

Proudly wearing her world champion's rainbow jersey with 'Jennings' emblazoned on her shoulders, the Queenslander won four of the six events, and finished runner up in one other to secure the crown.

"I am so happy, it is really fantastic to be able to race with my world bands on my back and come away with the win," said the seventeen-year-old.

Jennings claimed the junior world title in the omnium in a perfect performance by winning all six events at the world championships in August. She also teamed with Baker and fellow Queenslander Emily Roper to win the team pursuit world title.

However a training mishap a fortnight ago almost forced Jennings to withdraw from the championships, but despite a week off the bike she was simply superb, winning the individual pursuit, time trial, flying lap and scratch race.

She also finished runner up in the points race and despite an eleventh placing in the elimination race, her tally of 17 points put her nine clear of Elissa WUNDERSITZ (WA) with Tasmania's Georgia Baker placing third with 30 points.

"(After the elimination) I was in a really bad place in my head as I put too much pressure on myself," said Jennings, "But tonight I knew I had to win all three and when I get something in my head, I do everything to try and do it.

"It was just great being here as they weren't sure if I should have even come down here for the championships," said Jennings, referring to the training accident which has left visible facial lacerations.

"The only time I cried after the accident was when they told me I couldn't come down to race the omnium."

The three-day track carnival which began on Thursday, concludes on Saturday when the Madison crown will be decided.