Bendigo’s Blake Agnoletto already has significant results to his name – including a win in the famous Melbourne to Warrnambool road race – but today’s victory in the Commonwealth Games elimination will surely rank highly for decades to come.
“There’s not many experiences like this, winning an individual medal at a Games, going up to my mum in the stands when she’s in tears,” the 23-year-old said after his victory at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome in Glasgow, Scotland.
“After all the support and sacrifice and everything they’ve done for you over the years, there’s not much I can compare this to, and it’s going to take a long time to settle in.”
Agnoletto carried Australia’s medal hopes into the elimination race alongside Tom Cornish.
The pair stayed safely out of trouble through the early phases, until a lapse in concentration saw Cornish caught out of position and eliminated in seventh place out of the 23 starters.
“I heard him say, ‘It’s all on you now, Blake,’ so I put my head down, afterburners on, and went for it,” Agnoletto recalled, saying he felt strong throughout the event.
Agnoletto hugs his mum in the stands.
“Where I knew I could win was five ‘elims’ to go. It was starting to get a bit more cagey. I was able to accelerate and then recover really quickly, which paid dividends.
“The last bit of the race, I felt really good, so I was able to attack it from the back and watch if people were coming, and ride up onto the hip of the people in front of me.”
When the field was reduced to just three riders, Agnoletto was confident he had enough in reserve. He first got the better of England’s Henry Hobbs before attacking away from Scotland’s Mark Stewart to seize his maiden victory at the Games.
“I saw Mark had been on the front for the last – I don’t know how many laps! I knew if I could get this guy to a sprint, get a bit of height on him and take a run at him, he had no chance with the form I’m on at the moment.
“It’s a bit cocky to say, but I knew I could do it. So I just launched and didn’t look back.”
Agnoletto’s victory capped off another successful day for Australia at the velodrome, which included a gold medal to Georgia Baker in the scratch race, a podium sweep in the individual pursuit, plus silver medals for Leigh Hoffman in the sprint and Gordon Allan in the C4−5 1km time trial.
Photos: SWpix.com