Tag: Australian Racing

It’ll be nine years, this January since we ran our Gary Wiggins obituary. Wiggins, father of Knight of the Realm, current World Hour Record holder, reigning Olympic Team Pursuit Champion and former Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins, died in hospital in Newcastle, New South Wales the day after an ‘incident’ in Muswellbrook the previous day.

When last we spoke to Mark Stewart, back in April, he’d just been cut adrift from the GB track squad on the strength of an admittedly below par ride in the World Points Race Championship, despite an excellent series of World Cup results over the winter. The other day, when we rang Mark we were back to speaking to ‘our Mark of old’, the new 2020 New Zealand Omnium Champion, full of enthusiasm for life and his sport.

I was a sceptic; one of the, “it’s only the blinkin’ flu, for goodness sake!” Brigade. It all seemed like an overreaction, these things happen in places like China with so many folks living on top of each other. Strange days indeed.

Ronnie Boa was a God like figure, when I was a 16 year-old with Kirkcaldy and District CC. He would come out at the start of the season and dominate - hilly time trials, road races, APR's, two-ups and even a stage in the Girvan. He was red hot favourite for the 25 title after banging out winning 58's at Stirling on a track iron; but on race morning he was a DNS, leaving the way clear for Drew Brunton to take the title.

It was British former motor pace rider, Six Day and road man Norman Hill who informed us of the passing of one of the Six Day Greats, at the age of 81 years; a true ‘all-rounder’ and one of the all-time Six Day Greats, ‘Rest in Peace' Dieter Kemper.

Schlecks Shaken... What a stage last night turned out to be! Prior to the stage, the thoughts were that it was always going to be a breakaway, and there wouldn't be much movement on the general classification. Half right! The high likelihood of the break staying away meant that all of the boys not in with a chance on general were hoping to get a piece of the action, meaning it took hours before the break finally got clear.