The 23-year-old claimed 12th in the Flying Lap, 15th in the points race and second spot in the elimination race, leaving him sixth overall with a day’s racing still to come.
“It’s been up and down today,” Swift told Cyclingnews after finishing second behind Elia Viviani (Italy) in the elimination race.
“I was disappointed with how the points race went. It was meant to be my strongest event of the day but it turned out to be my weakest. I couldn’t pedal and I had nothing. Once I got into the red on that gear, I just couldn’t do it.”
“Luckily I turned it around in the elimination event. I think the overall Omnium is out of the window now. I’m just taking it day-by-day now and try for a personal best in the pursuit.”
Swift will look to the pursuit as chance to showcase his talent ahead of next month’s World Championships where he will be hoping to make the selection for the team pursuit, an event where Team GB have an abundance of talent.
“This is still good preparation for the Worlds. I needed time on the track and I needed time with this kind of cadence but my prime goal for the Worlds is to get into that team pursuit team.”
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Despite his indifferent form this weekend Swift has had an excellent start to the season, winning two stages at last month’s Santos Tour Down Under, where he opened Sky’s account for 2011. It marked an important turn point in his career after enduring a difficult season last year with injury and illness.
“I came off a bit of a difficult season last year so to hit the ground running was a really nice personal boost and to get two wins at the WorldTour level was great,” Swift told Cyclingnews.
“I’ve just found it really difficult to come from the road and replicate that form on the track. I had great form on the road but I’ve not been able to transfer it to the track. I’ve just struggled with the cadence. I don’t know why.”
Swift will compete in the men’s Omnium, Individual Pursuit, Scratch Race and Time Trial later today.
Daniel Benson was the Editor in Chief at Cyclingnews.com between 2008 and 2022. Based in the UK, he joined the Cyclingnews team in 2008 as the site's first UK-based Managing Editor. In that time, he reported on over a dozen editions of the Tour de France, several World Championships, the Tour Down Under, Spring Classics, and the London 2012 Olympic Games. With the help of the excellent editorial team, he ran the coverage on Cyclingnews and has interviewed leading figures in the sport including UCI Presidents and Tour de France winners.
