Competiton leader heading into the final day, Luke Davison (Image credit: Jarrod Partridge - jxpphotography.com)
I've won? Luke Davison won Stage 2 of the Jayco Herald Sun Tour in Healesville(Image credit: Mark Gunter - markgunter.com.au)
Australia en route to a gold medal in the men's 4000m team pursuit final.(Image credit: AFP)
15km scratch race world championship podium (L-R): Andreas Mueller (Austria), Martyn Irvine (Ireland) and Luke Davison (Australia)(Image credit: AFP)
Luke Davison (Synergy-Baku) is aiming for a debut national crown at the 2013 Omnium National Championships in Melbourne which begin on Thursday. The 23-year-old Davison won the omnium and assisted Australia to the team pursuit gold medal at the UCI Track World Cup in Mexico last week. He also posted two personal best times in both the flying lap and individual pursuit rounds of the omnium.
"My recent results have certainly given me a lot of confidence leading into nationals but it will take my best performance to win as the field is very strong," said Davison. "I'm sure I'll be a marked man to a certain degree but I'm looking forward to the challenge."
Davison also took bronze in the omnium at the opening round of the Track World Cup Series in Manchester.
Challenging Davison for the title will be reigning team pursuit world champions Alex Edmondson and Alex Morgan, as well as 2012 team sprint world champion Scott Sunderland who continues his switch to the endurance ranks and 2011 omnium national champion Scott Law. "I feel like I'm in really good shape heading into nationals and it would be fantastic to take home the jersey," Davison said.
"Australia has produced some great omnium riders in recent years so it would be a huge honour to be the national champion."
Edmondson may be a rival in the omnium but will partner Davison in the Madison National Championships, which will feature as part of the Melbourne Cup on Wheels Carnival on Saturday evening.
"I've got a huge amount of respect for Alex and will be watching him very closely in the omnium. We're good mates though and even though neither of us will give an inch, the moment it's over we'll forget about it and combine well in the madison," said Davison.
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Davison is looking to recapture the form on the track that helped him to become a triple junior world champion in 2008 which included victory in the omnium.
Davison took a break from the bike after his world titles before switching to the road which paid dividends with him taking out the overall of the 2012 National Road Series (NRS) although he felt that there were still challenges to conquer on the track. "After I won the NRS, I felt like I hadn't achieved all that I was capable of on the track and I was eager to see if I could work my way back into the national team, this time at the elite level. I owe a huge amount to Tim Decker for giving me that chance," said Davison.
In his return to the track in 2013, Davison has had a charmed year claiming two World Cup gold medals, three Oceania and two national titles in addition to pocketing bronze in the scratch race at the World Championships in Belarus. Davison will return to the road in 2014 with the Azeri Synergy-Baku team as he balances racing in both disciplines.
The Omnium and Madison titles will be contested in Melbourne from the 19-21 December as part of the Melbourne Cup on Wheels Carnival while the national track titles are to be contested in Adelaide from the 29 January-1 February, 2014.
