After starting cycling only four or five years ago, Murray won the sprint and individual time trial in track cycling and also made friends along the way.

``I'd never been in a world event before and there were some Italians and some Kiwis and French, they just came from all over the place,'' Murray said.

``I met an Italian in the final of the sprint called Fabio.

``I managed to beat him in it, too, which was good.

``But the nice thing about Masters racing is that while we went hammer and tong on the track, it's all quite friendly afterwards and you're back to being normal human beings.''

Murray said because the Masters were for competitors over 35 years old, they had people competing who were quite a bit older than him.

``We had some who were 75 or 80 plus in the track racing and the road racing had someone who was 88, I think.

``They don't move that slowly.''

Murray was in a five-year age group from 40 to 44.

``It was quite interesting talking to them,'' he said.

``A lot of them are ex-Olympians or ex-Commonwealth Games athletes and they tell you all these stories about riding with the world's greatest athletes, and here I am riding on the same track as them.''