I proved my worth: cycling champ Perkins

Cyclist Shane Perkins hopes his keirin victory at the Australian track championships on Saturday night prompts his return to the elite training squad.

Four months after being axed, Shane Perkins says his latest national title is proof he should be reinstated to Australia's elite cycling squad.

Perkins, who was dropped from Cycling Australia's high performance program last October, won the national keirin title at the track championships in Adelaide on Saturday night.

Perkins now hopes to hear from CA hierarchy for the first time since being dumped from the elite squad.

"I am hoping I am going to get a bit more dialogue than I have got in the last four months - it has been nothing ... I really got no direction," he said.

Perkins' victory came on a final night of the nationals when Anna Meares collected yet another national crown - her keirin triumph delivered her 36th Australian title.

Perkins rated his fourth national keirin title among his sweetest-ever victories and hoped it resonated with cycling hierarchy.

"They made a decision and I could have taken it one of two ways ... crack the shits and quit, or look at the challenge and take it head on," the 29-year-old said.

"I'm here. Hopefully I have proven myself and shown them that I still want it.

"If they feel like I have done enough to deserve to be back in the team ... they have got my number, they have got my email.

"I can't make the decision for them. I have done everything I can."

Perkins stressed he held "no malice" towards selectors.

"They had to make tough decisions," he said.

"Unfortunately one of those was letting me go - whether I agreed with it or not didn't matter.

"It was quite hard to grasp myself, whether I wanted to keep riding my bike with those challenges."

Perkins' triumph came after Meares completed a clean sweep of her events at the nationals - winning the team sprint with Stephanie Morton, the individual sprint and the keirin.

"As much as the results, I'm really pleased with how I have conducted myself, how I have held myself mentally," Meares said.

"I'm very happy."


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Source: AAP



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