Jack Bobridge is getting ready for the 112th Urban St Kilda Austral Wheelrace on Wednesday. The heat in this traditional handicap race over 2000m matches Bobridge against Shane Perkins, Rohan Dennis, Travis Meyer and Tom Scully.
“They looked after him alright,” Bobridge told SBS when he found out that Scully was granted a 50m head start. Scully won two gold medals at the Melbourne Track World Cup. Bobridge was alright with the other riders in his heat, even though it contains the defending champion with Perkins.
But Bobridge, the U23 time trial World Champion, was surprised about handicap rulings. Cameron Meyer was granted a head start in a different heat. “Cam got 20 meters. The world points race champion got 20 meters. Geeze,” Bobridge said.
Bobridge recalled that Perkins got a 15m head start last year and “yeah, he won it.” This year, Perkins will start alongside Bobridge, so the two will fight it out on equal terms. Bobridge is confident that he will fight for victory.
Garmin times
What’s more important for Bobridge is his contract with Garmin Slipstream, however. He will ride for the American team in 2010 and his first challenge is the Tour Down Under in January. At the Australian Road Championships he will meet with Matthew White, the directeur sportif for Garmin, to discuss the European road program.
Bobridge made the choice for Garmin knowing he will get road time without completely losing his track opportunities. He will get to race the Track Worlds in Denmark in March.
The switch from track to road back to track should be alright for him, as long as he can stay injury-free. This wasn’t the case recently, when Bobridge missed five weeks on the bike due to tendonitis. But now he is ready to also ride the Australian Madison Championship on Friday night. At the Darebin International Sports Centre he will team up with dual Olympic gold medallist Graeme Brown.
Then he will be ready for his first major race with Garmin.