Meyer happy with third overall in Oman

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While most of the riders who took part in the Tour of Oman headed back to Europe over the weekend, Cameron Meyer (Garmin-Transitions) traveled home to Australia buoyed by an impressive third place in the final time trial and third overall. Meyer will soon begin preparing for the International Cycling Union (UCI) Track World Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark at the end of March.

The 22-year-old is the current Australian national time trial champion and it showed on the testing course on Oman. He finished third, 45 seconds behind winner Edvald Boasson Hagen (Team Sky) and only 28 seconds behind world time trial champion Cancellara.

Meyer missed out on second place overall in the six-day race by just a few hundreds to Boasson Hagen and was only 28 seconds –the seconds he lost in the time trial- behind Cancellara. "It was close for second but it was still a good way to finish the race," Meyer told Cyclingnews.

"To finish off with a tough time trial like that after six days of racing was very hard,” he said. “But I knew the course would suit my style because I'm a lighter built guy who could climb. I had good legs in the time trial and the hills early in the course suited me. Then I just had to hang on the descents and flat roads and get to the finish. I think I did that pretty well."

"I think I had a good Tour all round because I needed to get through it all without losing any time to have a crack in the time trial,” he continued. “I did it thanks to having the team around me. I learnt a lot by following Tyler Farrar and Robbie Hunter in the bunch and that was a big reason why I didn't lose any time."

Meyer made his debut with Garmin in 2009 and also won his first senior world title in the points race at the track world championships in Poland. With some quality early season racing in his legs, Meyer will now focus on preparing for this year's world championships in Copenhagen and the rest of his European road season.

"I'm riding the Madison with Leigh Howard and we've both showed we've got good form here. He won a stage and I got this result, so it's good for morale," he said. "After the track worlds I've got the Giro d'Italia again, which I'm looking forward to. I'm still very new to professional racing but I learnt a lot in Oman. Getting through this and ending it with a good result looks good for the rest of the season."