Anna Meares capped off the Australian Track Championships with a victory in the keirin on Sunday in Adelaide. It was her third title win of the weekend after securing the gold medal in the individual and team pursuits.
“I’m really pleased, really happy,” Meares said in a press release. “As much as the results are great I’m really pleased with how I’ve been able to conduct myself and held myself mentally.”
Meares took the keirin victory ahead of Stephanie Morton, who had held the title for three previous years. Morton led the race into the final lap but was overtaken by Meares.
Meares’ accomplishments were rewarded with the Champion of Champions trophy upon the conlusion of the national championships.
“What I’ve seen and how I’ve reacted during races is what’s given me the most confidence and I know that as hard as these races are - riders like Kaarle, Courtney, Rikki and Stephanie are pushing not just me but myself as well,” Meares said.
“This is why we’re going to be in really good stead by the time the international competitions arrive, starting with the World Championships.”
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The UCI Track World Championships will be held in London's Lee Valley VeloPark from March 2-6.
Watch Meares winning the keirin and her post-race interview in this latest video.
In what seemed certain to be a race already won by Hitec Product's Kirsten Wild ahead of the Ladies Tour of Qatar, turned out to be a surprise victory for Canyon//Sram's Trixi Worrack. She won the general classification by 17 seconds ahead of Romy Kasper and 28 seconds clear of Ellen van Dijk, Boels Dolmans teammates.
"We are really happy to start with a victory straight into the season. It was a lot of work but we all put our energy together and believed that we could win the golden jersey here. For the last five years I have always been close on the general classification. So now to take the win home with me it is really special," said Worrack in a team press release.
The team will now return to Europe to prepare for the first of the Spring Classics with Het Nieuwsblad in Belgium on 27 February 2016.
Astana Women's Team kick off 2016 in Sardinia
The Astana Women's Team have united for a pre-season training camp in Sardinia. The women will train for two weeks together to build their form ahead of the 2016 calendar.
The camp is based alongside Lake Liscia and will provide the riders with an opportunity to get to know one another while training in warmer climates.
"Half a day in Sardinia has been enough to understand that we made the right choice," said sports director Aldo Piccolo, "and we're sure that we will do optimal training approaching the first races. We hope that the weather will help us, but we already found roads with a good surface and almost no traffic at all, just ideal for us."
Riders Arianna Fidanza and Fanny Riberot have already started their seasons at the Ladies Tour of Qatar with their respective national teams. The remaining riders will begin their racing season in two weeks.
