The last medals of the 14 events raced at the 2024 Tissot UCI Track Nations Cup season opener were awarded on Sunday, with the finals of the men’s sprint and Madison, and women’s omnium and keirin taking place in extreme heat at the Adelaide Super-Drome.
Here’s everything the winners had to say on the final day at the Adelaide Super-Drome.
Men’s Madison
Campbell Stewart (New Zealand)
(The plan was) maybe to wait a little bit longer (to attack). But yeah, we kind of saw an opportunity and went out there and took it. It's always better to be on the front foot rather than chasing. So yeah, we kind of put a bit of pressure down and eventually a few other teams responded.
But yeah, it was nice to kind of race from the front and keep pushing.
Aaron Gate (New Zealand)
We wanted to be in contention for the start and just like say you know, it's a little bit cliche, see how it plays out a little bit and not show all our cards too early because 200 laps can take quite a long time so it was a case of just, you know, getting points on the board, making sure we're in contention and then we can get stuck into our work and it was good that it obviously paid off.
Women’s keirin
Mina Sato (Rakuten K Dreams/Japan)
So yesterday in the sprint I also had a good result but I didn't think I would wait two days so this was really the best day and the best result ever.
Men’s sprint
Kaiya Ota (Rakuten K Dreams/Japan)
I'm really, really happy. I still don't even realise it and I think I’m able to stand there (on the top of the podium) thanks to my very strong rival and I was able to fight.
Women’s omnium
Ally Wollaston (New Zealand)
Yeah, really happy. I mean, I couldn’t ask for much more. I’m just really proud of executing the day the way that I wanted, and just being really consistent across the day. But yeah, I’m really just super happy, and honestly, couldn’t be happier with the weekend.
Yeah, I just had to stick to her like glue. I mean, I couldn’t let her get any more points on me. I think it was a really close run the whole time and she’s a phenomenal rider and yeah, if I let her go, I think it would have been game over, so I just had to stick to the wheel.
The 2024 Tissot UCI Track Nations Cup in Adelaide was proudly supported by the South Australian Tourism Commission.