Track cycling isn’t easy – no doubt about it – and young guns Fletcher Partlin and Zane Tapp have pushed through the pain to bring home solid results from the State Track Championships in Sydney.
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Fletcher – in the under 17s – and Zane – in the under 15s – competed in four and five events, respectively, at the three-day tournament.
Zane claimed top 10 finishes in three events on Friday while Flether’s best result of that day was 13th in the time trial.
The pair backed it up the following day as Zane claimed fourth in the kierin final while Fletcher finished fourth in the kierin repechage to just miss out on the final.
It was a big weekend and cycling coach Allan Partlin said the Tamworth Cycle Club juniors had put in a big effort over the three days.
“It’s just about getting yourself up. [You have to] build up to give an all out effort. That’s pretty hard to do,” Allan said.
“The kids probably spend 45 minutes warming up for a 30-second event.
“They hop off, have a meal, a drink, wait a couple hours then do it all again.
“They have to try and keep the nervous energy down, too.
“They do pretty well. They socialise in between events which keeps them calm.”
Along with the effort, Allan was chuffed with the results from the boys who are two of NIAS’ Gunnedah Services and Bowling Club Lonestar athletes.
He said he couldn’t have asked for anything more from the pair.
“They both rode really solidly,” Allan said.
They both rode really solidly.
- Allan Partlin speaking about Zane Tapp and Fletcher Partlin who competed at the State Track Championships
“The first two days, Zane rode probably the best he’s ever ridden and just luck was probably the difference between getting a medal or not.
“He put in a couple solid days and rode big PBs. I think he had an 18-second personal best in the individual pursuit.
“Fletcher was the same. He had some pretty tough competition and rode personal bests in all his timed events.”
Allan said Zane was still in contention to be named in the state team but they were focusing on the Dubbo Track Open Carnival for now.
Both Zane and Fletcher will compete in Dubbo this weekend before heading to Coffs Harbour to compete on February 24-25.
From there, the cyclists will start training for the road season which starts toward the end of March.
They’ll start riding between 200-400 kilometres a week to prepare.
