Browne crashes to a credible fifth in Men’s Keirin

AN ugly crash involving national cyclist Kwesi Browne and Russian Denis Dmitriev, in the Men’s Keirin 1-6 final, saw the former finish fifth overall when action continued along the Anna Meares Velodrome track in Brisbane, Australia, on Saturday.

Having previously escaped a major crash on his way to victory in the opening round of competition, Browne then advanced to the final by placing third in the second round. Against a world class field of cyclists such as Dmitriev, Jack Carlin (Great Britain), Tomas Babek (Czech Republic), Matthew Glaetzer (Australia) and Kevin Quintero (Colombia) in the title race, the national representative showed grit.

However, in Browne’s attempt to sprint past the leading riders, Dmitriev rode within his path, clipping Browne’s front wheel and sending both riders to the track and out of the medal chase. The pair finished fifth overall.

According to reports coming out of the TT camp, Browne is recovering well without and serious injury. After the race, the Keirin specialist assured he was in good spirits by posting to social media, “Only the strong survive out here...hit the deck hard in the final tonight!!!” Prior to Browne’s World Cup performances over the past three weeks, he was forced to spend some time off the bike after sustaining serious injuries from another harrowing crash at the Pan American Elite track Cycling Championships in Bolivia, during early September.

The 25-year-old’s performance though, still earned him 350 International Cycling Union (UCI) points which would significantly aid his Tokyo 2020 Olympic qualification campaign. Altogether, over the past three UCI World Cup legs in China, New Zealand and Australia, Browne has attained 750 more UCI points.

Meanwhile, Men’s Flying 200m world record holder Nicholas Paul was scheduled to begin his Men’s Sprint qualifying at approximately 8pm, on Saturday night. Paul lined up in heat 31 of 32 and will be aiming to give his best effort to conclude his 2019 season on a high note and add more points towards his Olympic qualification.