By Martyn Herman
GLASGOW (Reuters) – Iuri Leitao made history when he claimed Portugal’s first ever world title in track cycling by winning the men’s omnium event in Glasgow on Sunday.
The 25-year-old was dominant throughout the multi-discipline competition, winning the scratch race and tempo race before getting a runners-up placing in the elimination race.
With a comfortable cushion to take into the final points race, Leitao stayed out of trouble and held off the challenge of France’s two-time omnium world champion Benjamin Thomas.
“For us it’s a really important step,” Leitao, who won with 187 points to the 185 of Thomas, told Reuters after emotional scenes with his team at trackside.
“We have a little bit more than a decade of track cycling and being the world champion of, in my opinion, the biggest race in the UCI World Championships is unbelievable. It’s really a big step up for us.”
Asked how he had responded to the pressure of leading the competition, he said: “I didn’t feel too good after the elimination race so I tried to take it a little bit easy in the points race. I had a big gap so I could manage a little bit the points and after that it was full gas 12 kilometres.”
Portugal has a pedigree in road cycling but, with only one velodrome in the country, track cycling is the poor relation.
But Leitao, who also rides on the road with UCI ProTeam Caja Rural–Seguros RGA, hopes that will change after a superbly controlled display earned him gold when the target had been merely to get in the top 10.
“When I started in the track, we had a small team. Now we have a lot of young riders so I think we have given a little bit of motivation for them.
“And it’s really good to be to be a world champion in giving the hope to the new generation.”
(Reporting by Martyn Herman; editing by Clare Fallon)
