March 5, 2008 (Melbourne Australia) — The Symmetrics pairing of Zach Bell and Svein Tuft recently made the long trip to Melbourne Australia to race in the Australian Madison Championships. This year awarded UCI points, and attracted international riders from Japan, Malaysia as well as the Canadians to make up the 18-team field.

The Canadians finished 8th in the fastest Australian championships on record, completing the 50km distance in a hair under 57 minutes. There was some questionable officiating in the race, won by youngsters Leigh Howard and Glenn O’Shea (both just 18), over the Meyer brothers of South Australia, in which the Meyers were judged to have taken a lap before a sprint lap, costing them a valuable five points. While the judging likely didn’t affect the outcome, the results should likely have been much closer.

Pedal will try and catch up with the Symmetrics riders in the next few days to see about their plans down under (team-mate Christian Meier is also down under with the Madison team).

Results

1. Glenn O’Shea/Leigh Howard (Victorian Institute of Sport) 36 Points
2. Cameron Meyer/Travis Meyer (Baldwin Filters 15

One Lap Down

3. Miles Olman/Mitch Docker (Apex Steel) 14

Three Laps Down

4. Sean Finning/James Langedyk (Shimano) 1
5. David Pell/Brad Edmunds (Savings & Loans) 6
6. Roy Pieters/Geert-Jan Jonkman (The Locker Group) 3

Five Laps Down

7. Dale Scarf/Jackson-Leigh Rathbone (NSW Institute of Sport) 15
8. Zach Bell/Svein Tuft (Vero Insurance) 4
9. Sebastian Donadio/Juan Gaspari (Assos Cycling Apparel) 2

Six Laps Down

10. Hamish Taylor/Casey Munro (De Grandi Cycle & Sport) 1