With his creditable fourth-place effort in a field of 19 riders in the Points Race at the recent UCI Masters World Track Championships in Sydney, Australia, US-based Guyanese Aubrey Gordon again proved that he is still a significant competitor in world-class competition.
Riding in the 50-54 15km Points Race final, Gordon posted 33 points, finishing behind Scott Butler (USA) and Bernardo Figueroa (Colombia) on 48 points and the winner David Moreland (Australia) 59 points.
The Masters Track World Championships are held annually and the past four years it was staged in Manchester, England.
In 2005 Gordon placed 3rd in the Points Race at the World Masters which is held under the auspices of the UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale). But in 2003 he copped a silver medal in the male 45-49 Points Race.
At this year's championships at the Dunc Gray Velodrome in Sydney, Australia, from October 16-21, Gordon rode in the Scratch Race (mass start event) and the Points Race, making the final in both after placing in the heats. The Points Race is a variation of the mass start race in which points are awarded to the top placing riders in a series of sprints contested at various intervals during the race. The winner of a Points Race is not necessarily the first to cross the finish line, but rather the rider who has accumulated the most points during the race.
Gordon, however, was unlucky in the final of the Scratch Race as his cleats broke during the race when he was well poised. Although Geoff Cooke from England rushed to his aid with a toe strap it was too late, according to his coach/manager, Victor A. Rutherford Snr, who had to cancel his trip to Australia at the last moment.
US-based Rutherford, a local cycling star before migrating to the US, underscored in an e-mail to Stabroek Sport that Gordon "always represents Guyana when he is racing internationally." Gordon was the only Guyanese cyclist in Sydney at the masters, Rutherford said, adding that for the next three years the championships will be held in Australia.
Rutherford also told Stabroek Sport that Gordon had suffered a blow-out just as the final for the Scratch Race was about to start so he had to run over to the pits and get a new wheel. That, Rutherford said, might have been the reason why the cleats got damaged and when pressure was put on it during the race it broke.
"As a coach that would have been my job and also instead of him having to ask someone to inflate his tyre … so I have to accept the blame for Aubrey not winning a medal in that event," Rutherford said.
"I did get an e-mail from Geoff Cooke, the English sprinter, and he said that 'your boy was in as good a form as I have ever seen, how unfortunate for him not to win a medal - where were you?'
Rutherford noted that while Gordon does not really get any funding, his club in the US assists as best as it could. But Rutherford indicated that he would try to get Gordon some financial help for next year in addition to team support.
Gordon, a well-rounded bike racer who is often considered a "perennial threat" in every event, also competes in criterium and stage race events. He represented Guyana at the 1980,1984, and 1988 Olympics.
