Masters glory for Whittington postman

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://www.thisistamworth.co.uk/sport/M ... ticle.html

WHITTINGTON postman Graham Truelove overcame early disappointment in Sydney last week to complete a full compliment of medals at National, European and World Masters level this season.

Truelove travelled to Australia with fellow Lichfield Cycling Club member Steve Clayton and with both being among the best in the world at Masters level, they had realistic expectations of medals.

They both had good form and Truelove, in particular, had a real chance of coming away with a gold medal and the coveted rainbow jersey that is always presented to the World Champion.

However, shortly after arriving in Australia, he became ill with a chest infection and, despite going there as favourite for the pursuit, was devastated when he could only manage sixth.

In his other specialist event, the 500m time trial, Truelove – who took up cycling after a long career canoeing for Great Britain – could only manage 11th position.

Meanwhile, Clayton was also fighting to find his form after the long flight and was also disappointed with only ninth in the pursuit and 12th in the time trial.

At this level medals are decided not on seconds but fractions of a second and the pair being a couple of seconds off their personal bests saw them down the results list.

With only the points race remaining, not one of Truelove's specialities, it looked like a tough ask for the pair.

The race is won by the rider who gets the highest number of points from a series of sprints during the 20 or so laps.

Going into the final sprint, Truelove was leading and was just beaten into third by the narrowest of margins.

One higher place would have made him World Champion but the first three all finished with nine points.

In the event of tied points the result is decided on the final sprint, meaning Truelove then dropped from first to third but, after all the problems of the week, he was relieved to have salvaged a bronze medal.

Clayton was also on fire in his race, picking up points in almost every sprint but he was unable to gain an extra 20 points for lapping the field.

It was this that denied him a chance of a medal as despite gaining the highest points from the sprints, five others managed to gain a lap, leaving him sixth.