Australian sprinter Allan Davis wins men’s road race hours after Rochelle Gilmore
Allan Davis helped Australia go two for two in the Commonwealth Games road race in Delhi with his gold medal win only hours after Rochelle Gilmore won the women’s event.
The gold medal is redemption for Davis, who claimed bronze last week at the World Championships in Australia and has been winless since he dominated the Tour Down Under last year.
Davis won the sprint ahead of New Zealand’s Hayden Roulston and Scotland’s David Millar. Davis’ win continues Australia’s success from the 2006 Games with Mathew Hayman.
His win came at the end of a flat circuit race in Delhi, where Isle of Man’s Mark Cavendish was heavily favoured. Cavendish won five stages at this year’s Tour de France and three at the Vuelta a España. His form, though, was in doubt after he abandoned the World Championships with three laps to race.
Rival teams tried to ruin the chances of a sprint by firing off multiple attacks. Ireland’s David McCann and New Zealand’s Gordon McCauley were the most active.
McCann’s aggressiveness helped form a powerful escape of four for the final lap with Scot Millar, Kiwi Roulston and Aussie Chris Sutton. The group’s tactics, though, helped Davis bridge with only two kilometres remaining. Cavendish failed to make the winning move.
Australia with two men in the group had a tactical advantage. Sutton marked attacks and made his own, while Davis marked Roulston and used him to launch his sprint. Sutton, though without a medal, was just as delighted as Davis, crossing the line with his arms in the air.
Cavendish finished nearly a minute behind.
Results
1) Allan Davis (Australia)
2) Hayden Roulston (New Zealand)
3) David Millar (Scotland)
4) Chris Sutton (Australia) at 4″
5) David McCann (Northern Ireland) at 11″
6) Dominique Rollin (Canada) at 22″
7) Mark Cavendish (Isle of Man) at 59″
8) Gordon McCauley (New Zealand) at 1’09”