Australian cyclists Allan Davis and Rochelle Gilmore dodged wild dogs and monkeys on the stifling empty streets of Delhi to win the Commonwealth Games men’s and women’s road races on Sunday.
The pair showed incredible stamina to sprint to victory on the flat winding course, which resembled a ghost town after a huge armed security presence kept the public but not the wildlife away.
“Apart from the wild monkeys and dogs, there was nothing too challenging,” Gilmore, covered in dirt after completing the 112km race, told reporters.
“We were told there would be no wild animals but there were. We weren’t expecting so much dirt and dust. We could taste the dirt in our mouths but we didn’t think about that.”
The men’s 168km race started at 1pm local time, the hottest part of the day, resulting in 78 of the 130 riders failing to finish as temperatures soared over 30°.
“It wasn’t an easy race,” the softly-spoken Davis said, perched against his bike before the medal ceremony.
Davis outlasted favourite Mark Cavendish of the Isle of Man, who was isolated in the final stages by a lack of teammates and could not stay with the Australian.
“I was so proud to wear the [Isle of Man] jersey,” said Cavendish, a frequent winner of stages on the Tour de France.
“My teammates were great. I asked them to give 100% and they did.
“We didn’t have a team as strong as the Australians. In our team we had an electrician and a man from the water board.”
Davis paid tribute to the support he received from his Australian teammates.
“It is what I have been working for all year and I would just like to thank all the guys on the Australian team,” said Davis.
His victory was Australia’s 14th gold of the 16 available in road and track cycling at the Delhi Games.
However, there was little support for the riders as they cycled the scenic route past parliament and the presidential palace with only police, officials, volunteers and media on hand at the start-finish line to witness the race.
There had been no official bar on spectators, but access was all but cut-off by armed police, who blocked off roads, diverted traffic and closed down underground stations to maintain security.
Organisers narrowly avoided an embarrassing incident when staff scampered to remove barriers they had placed prematurely across the track after the start-finish line before a group of backmarkers in the men’s race had completed their final lap. – Reuters