Australian Matthew Richardson is savouring life as cycling's new sprint king after ending the global domination of the track's fastest man at the Champions League.
And the man from Perth hopes he's ushered in one of the great new rivalries in track cycling after dethroning the previously untouchable Dutch superstar Harrie Lavreysen over the five-meeting international series.
The pair have been locked in a series of astonishing head-to-head sprint duels in Mallorca, Berlin, Paris and London over the past month in the UCI's innovative series designed to bring the sport to a new audience, winning five races apiece while eclipsing all their opponents.
But it was the 23-year-old Richardson who snatched the overall sprint prize by winning their final race, in the keirin, by the narrowest of margins in London's Olympic velodrome at Lee Valley on Saturday night, claiming the title by just two points.
In doing so, Richardson ended the sprint domination of one of the sports all-time greats, double Olympic and 11-time world champ Lavreysen, who'd beaten him to gold at the world championships in Paris in October.
Back then, British Olympic great Chris Hoy had called the Dutchman "virtually unbeatable".
"It feels surreal, this win is super important and means a lot to me. I hope it's the start of a special rivalry," said Richardson, who only won the last race after one final, dramatic push over the last 10 metres just when it seemed he was beaten.
"I just said to Harrie afterwards, 'what a season!'," said Richardson, who had earlier lost the match sprint to Lavreysen in another thriller.
"It couldn't have been any closer, coming into the last race of the Champions League with him just one point ahead.
"It's people like Harrie who really get the best out of everybody and now people like me.
"I've had (former world champ) Matt Glaetzer to train with in Australia and it's been the biggest blessing I could possibly ever have had. Now to have someone that close in racing like Harrie is just awesome.
"It's happening every single race, so I just hope we can push each other on."
The pair will now be expected to take their rivalry all the way to the Olympics in Paris in 2024.
But for the British-born Richardson, who began the sport at the same Midland Cycling Club in Perth where Giro d'Italia winner Jai Hindley learned the ropes, this marked the end of 12 months of dramatic progress.
"This time last year, I was getting out of bed at 3am in Australia to watch this event, thanking how great it was.
"Now I'm here, 40 miles down the road from where I was born (in Maidstone, Kent), winning it in front of family and friends. It's extra special."
A full-house of 5500 fans watched the finale to the Champions League series at the same venue where Richardson had lifted the Commonwealth Games sprint title in August.
There was also success for one of Richardson's Australian teammates, Chloe Moran, who won the Scratch race in the event finale.
