Australian targeting 2020 Olympics after four-month break
Cam Meyer (Dimension Data) (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Four months after his decision to hang up his wheels at the age of 28, Cameron Meyer has sprung another surprise by deciding to come out of retirement and return to professional cycling, with his focus on the track and his sights set on the 2020 Olympic Games.
Now, however, according the the Adelaide Advertiser, Meyer will return to action at the London Six Day event later this month.
"I didn’t have an obligation as to when to start back on the bike, it was just let it happen and let that motivation to get up in the morning and start training towards a goal return," he said.
"And I guess when I stepped back on the bike after my break my motivation and passion came back pretty quickly."
After the Six Day, Meyer hopes to compete at the Track World Cup events over the winter before going for selection for the Australian team for next year’s World Championships.
The 28-year-old is a six-time Worlds gold medallist and, after seemingly stepping away from the sport, is now setting himself the long-term goal of competing at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.
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"I love the track, and in terms of getting those first steps under way of re-joining the Australian team, there was a good chance of riding the London Six Day and first World Cup (in Glasgow the week after) all in preparation for trying to make the Aussie team for the world championships next year," Meyer said.
"[Tokyo] would be the main goal and I knew I had to commit maybe a little bit earlier than guys who had already been in the track program the last couple of years. I have to learn a lot, there are new things these young guys are doing that I haven’t even heard of so it’s about getting that process started now."
The track will be the main focus, but Meyer also said he will be looking to compete once again on the road.
"Everyone thinks I’m going to be a track rider and yes that’s where some of my priorities lie in terms of the Commonwealth Games and Olympics, but I still have goals I’d like to achieve on the road," he said, revealing that he hopes to find a way to race the Tour Down Under and the Herald Sun Tour early next season.
Meyer did not expand on the 'personal issues' he referred to when he announced he was stepping away from the sport in June, but he has given a clearer indication of his motivation.
"I knew I got to a point where I needed [cycling], and I still wanted a future within the sport. But I just needed time away to really pinpoint where my future was going to be and where my motivation and passion lied, and I wasn’t able to do that while still fulfilling a road contract in Europe," he said.
"It was personal issues and I couldn’t pinpoint why it happened at that time or the exact reason, it basically bubbled down that I knew I needed time away to assess where I wanted to go."
