Orange’s Ben Anderson has taken out the National Junior Track Series by a mammoth margin to claim the title as the best under-15 rider in the country.
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Anderson was on 310 points heading into the final round of the series in Adelaide, with a lead of 86 over Blackburn’s Jamie Radford, meaning he had to fall off his bike or have something go drastically wrong to lose the top spot.
But instead of cruising to the line in the style of the final stage of the Tour de France, Anderson put his pedal to the metal and forged ahead.
He finished with a 126-buffer over Radford to comprehensively claim the under-15 title.
Anderson didn’t win the title alone, as his stablemate at the Western Region Academy of Sport Dubbo-based Daniel Barber claimed the under-17 title by 141 points.
The titles were held across four meets in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide over five months, with the first leg held in Melbourne in October.
They test across seven different races, Enduro Openers, Derby Sprints, Madison Race, Scratch Race, Paced Scratch Races, Elimination and Keirin Race, with Elimination races leaving the last-placed rider eliminated each lap, and the latter six laps behind a motorbike and two laps of frenzied sprinting.
How was Anderson feeling after his crowning achievement?
“I’m pretty tired,” he said reflecting 13 races across two days.
“I’m feeling pretty good, a lot of hard work has gone into it.”
After taking the 86-point lead after round three, Anderson knew he had the series title in the bag unless something went drastically wrong in the final leg, but said he was still “pretty happy” to have the win.
He said he’d been aiming for the title for a long time.
“I knew I’d go alright but the aim was always to win it.”
He wanted to thank his coach Tom Dawson as well as his parents – "they do everything for me, get me to training and across the country to race”.
Anderson now begins preparation for state tryouts ahead of nationals in March, but beyond that is hoping to go far in cycling.
“I hope to be able to make a living from it,” he said.
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