Armidale rider Mitch Bullen came agonisingly close to winning the UCI Men’s Sprint competition at the 79th Melbourne Cup On Wheels (MCOW) Carnival last night against a world class field of riders from nine countries. Great Britain’s Callum Skinner was the fastest qualifier in a very slick 10.125 seconds with Mitch second-fastest at 0.09s down. However, Skinner crashed heavily in the semi-final round and was unable to continue. The Final was a hotly contested All-Australian battle between hometown hero Shane Perkins and Mitch. Perkins was victorious 2-0 but both heats were exceptionally close. The photo below shows the finish of Heat 1 and Heat 2 was even closer.

Photo courtesy Cycling Victoria and Con Chronis