JASON Kenny added a 4000 euro bonus to his brace of World Cup medals and then headed to bed.
Farnworth’s Olympic champion was one of the busiest riders on the British team at Sportcity and eventually it took its toll.
But he still finished an exhausting three days with a team sprint silver, individual bronze plus his cash prize from the international Japanese keirin.
“I think I rode every session so it was a long weekend,” smiled the weary 21-year-old, who finished seventh behind Mancunian Matt Crampton in the extra keirin race.
“There were a few ups and downs and I made a few mistakes.
“But hopefully I’ll learn from that and I’m generally pretty pleased with how it’s gone.
“I still felt in fairly good shape in the last session.
“This is the first event of the season really, so it’s good to see how we’re going.
“I’m a little bit quicker than I was last year so it’s always good to see some improvement.”
Despite membership of the Sky HD trade team, Kenny rode for Britain, alongside Crampton and David Daniell in the team sprint final.
The trio came close to causing an upset but Sir Chris Hoy, Jamie Staff and Ross Edgar edged them on the line.
“Unfortunately, we couldn’t beat the boys,” said Kenny, third behind Hoy and Crampton on Saturday night.
“We were pushing them close and that was nice to see.
“I’m happy with the individual sprint though obviously it could have gone better.
“At the end of the day, I was pleased with my flying 200 metres. I finished pretty much where I qualified so I can’t complain.
“The guys that did beat me went particularly well.
“I feel like I’m in good company and pretty happy with where I am right now.
“I’ll have a couple of days off now where I can get my feet up.
“I don’t know if I have to ride Melbourne (the next World Cup event) yet.
“It just depends on how the selection for the World Championships is going so “But I’m just not thinking about that really now, I’m just going to go home and have a lie down basically.”
There was one final honour last night as Kenny joined fellow Beijing Olympians and Paralympians to receive the freedom of Manchester at a special Town Hall ceremony.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article