Sydney Track World Cup - CDM

Sydney, Australia, May 14 - 16, 2004

Event program and results

Tales from the track

News and gossip from Day 1 of the 2004 Sydney Track World Cup

By Karen Forman in Sydney

Sidelined Brown concentrates on healing

Knocked out of his goal event for the year - the Giro d'Italia - with an Achilles tendon injury, Australian Panaria rider Graeme Brown was making the best of his unexpected return to Australia for treatment by supporting his countrymen at the UCI Track World Cup in his home town of Sydney on Friday night.

Brown, who originally was unavailable for the World Cup fixture because of his commitment to the Giro, said he hadn't exactly expected to find himself back at Dunc Gray Velodrome as his pet event unfolded in the Italian mountains.

But he refused to let it get him down, telling Cyclingnews that he was more intent on focussing his energy on getting better.

"I first did the injury during the Tour de Langkawi," he said. "I don't really know what I did though. Then on the 19th of April I did it again during training. I just went out for a two hour loop and halfway through I felt something and I thought, what was that?"

He returned to Australia 10 days ago, had an MRI scan on his injured left leg in Sydney and then was sent to the AIS in Adelaide for diagnosis and treatment.

"It's a lot better than I feared," he said. "The MRI showed nothing is broken, it's just inflammation of the tendon. I am having every treatment possible but basically it's just about resting it. I could get surgery but the recovery could be five days or five weeks, and it's not worth the risk so close to the Olympics. So I'll have it later."

Brownie was encouraged by a two-hour pain-free ride today.

"I just have to rest and strengthen other areas, make sure it doesn't get weak."

He heads back overseas on June 10 and hopes by then to have the Achilles sorted out. "Obviously my team isn't happy. Like, they are being okay, but it's not the greatest thing to happen. The Giro was their main goal for me for the year."

He said fiancée Hayley Rutherford, a member of the AIS based also in Italy, was sending him daily SMS updates about the Giro, but that he wasn't allowing himself to feel bad about missing out.

"It's bad that I am missing the racing, but thinking positively it is good that I will be fresh for the Olympics."

He has something else to look forward to, as well: His marriage to Rutherford in Perth on October 30. By then he will probably need a good rest but he said it didn't look like he'd get a honeymoon.

"Some race organisers in Perth have put on a race the weekend after our wedding to capitalise on the people that will be at the wedding," he said with a laugh. "So maybe I will have to be there."

More Day 1 News from the Sydney Track World Cup

By Karen Forman in Sydney

• Concussed and sore after keirin crash, brave Ford is determined to sprint Barbados rider Barry Ford has one chance and one chance only to gain qualification for the world track championships in Melbourne in a fortnight - tomorrow morning's sprint at the UCI World Track Cup in Sydney.
• Danes honor royal wedding with a midnight holiday They may have been on the other side of the world with other things (like winning races) on their mind, but still the Danish cyclists contesting the UCI Track World Cup in Sydney tonight didn't escape their dose of Royal wedding fever.
• Women carry the hopes of Italy, says coach The women's rather than the men's team would carry the hopes of Italy at the upcoming world track championships in Melbourne according to men's coach Marco Maccario.
• Sidelined Brown concentrates on healing Knocked out of his goal event for the year - the Giro d'Italia - with an Achilles tendon injury, Australian Panaria rider Graeme Brown was making the best of his unexpected return to Australia for treatment by supporting his countrymen at the UCI Track World Cup in his home town of Sydney on Friday night.
• Aussie results a credit to Walsh's base The top results being racked up by Australian cyclists at events like the UCI Track World Cup fixture currently underway in Sydney, had a lot to do with not only current coaching and a $4 million annual government investment, but also with the firm base established by former head coach Charlie Walsh.