Team GB cycling team start to move up the gears to hit 2012 at speed

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Coach David Brailsford says his team are well placed for the battle ahead.

Let’s try a little experiment here. Who won the men’s keirin at the World Championships in 2009? And another poser. Who took the women’s sprint title at the 2011 World Championships? You have got five minutes maximum and no Googling or you will get a red card.*

My guess is that you are struggling, even if you are a cycling fan. Yet if I asked you who won the 2008 Olympic men’s sprint title and the 2008 Olympic women’s sprint you would shout in unison: Chris Hoy and Victoria Pendleton.

It is Olympic deeds which sear themselves into our consciousness and it is Olympic medals garnered which determine whether we think a sport is delivering or underperforming.

Which makes an assessment of GB cycling’s state of health a year out from London 2012 tricky. Having won seven gold medals on the track in Beijing – and a gold and silver on the road through Nicole Cooke and Emma Pooley – cycling clearly has the toughest act to follow next year.

Britain is unlikely to achieve those heights again. The programme in London and the number of riders allowed to compete has been radically changed by the UCI with none of the changes particularly working in Britain’s favour.

Nor will Britain ever experience such a perfect campaign as the one they waged at the Loashan Velodrome in 2008, when there were no crashes, illness, injuries or mechanical problems to worry about.

Interim World Championships only provide a limited snapshot of what is going on. GB have been playing the long game, concentrating firmly on London 2012 and experimenting a little in the meantime. For the record, this year in Apeldoorn, in the 10 Olympic track events, Great Britain won seven medals but only one gold – in the women’s team pursuit. Australia, by contrast, took five gold medals.

“We have a hell of a fight on our hands, we know that, but we are within touching distance,” says GB performance director David Brailsford. “We know that we will be judged solely on London 2012 so that clearly has to be the occasion when we peak. After Beijing we had to take our foot off the pedal. If we had gone on training and competing at that intensity we would all have blown a gasket and there would be nothing left in the tank for London.

“Take three of our biggest names on the track – Chris Hoy, Vicky Pendleton and Brad Wiggins. They have won 24 world gold medals between them, not to mention eight Olympic gold medals.

“With the best will in the world there is only one track cycling meeting left that will get their juices flowing and that is a final ‘home’ Olympics. That’s when they have to produce their ultimate effort. They all know that and will have been keeping a little something in reserve.

“Chris, for example, is only going into his full Olympic-year training programme now, switching to the special gym and conditioning work that saw him rule the world in 2008. It’s not a regime and commitment you can make every year.”

Pendleton, meanwhile, spoke honestly on the subject recently after her performance at the 2011 World Championships, where she won a silver in the team sprint with Jess Varnish and a bronze in the individual sprint.

“Now the Olympics is so big I find it really tough to get up even for the World Championships. Everything has moved down a rung. The worlds feel like a World Cup, the World Cups feel like a nationals and the nationals might as well be a Thursday track league.

“London 2012 is so off the scale it’s quite difficult to get geed up for these competitions. I just feel a bit flat but I know that once we get into that final Olympic season, it will all kick in.”

So it is time for the GB machine to engage top gear. Specifically, they still need to find one rider for the men’s team sprint. If they can do that, a squad with Jason Kenny at two and Hoy at three really ought to be challenging for gold. Currently they are looking at BMXer Liam Phillips to see if he can give them the explosive start they are seeking.

The men’s omnium is also a problem area in that the rider has to come from the five-man team pursuit squad and although Ed Clancy is the obvious choice and is a former world champion, will he have enough left in the tank after his team pursuit efforts?

Among the women there is great competition for the starting places in the team pursuit squad and it remains to be seen if Rebecca Romero, gold medallist in the individual pursuit in Beijing, can force her way back into contention.

The battle between Varnish and Shanaze Reade for the start spot alongside Pendleton in the team sprint is also to be welcomed and probably the main worry among the women is whether Pendleton has the stamina and focus to compete on three fronts as Hoy did in Beijing.

On the road the women look as strong as ever and you would fancy either Lizzie Armistead or defending champion Cooke to feature prominently in the road race, while Pooley still has enough class to challenge for a podium position.The men’s road-race course should suit Mark Cavendish.

In the time-trial Alex Dowsett is fast becoming a world-class operator, and Wiggins looked to be back to his best before his Tour de France exit. He is an obvious medal contender on a flat course, but competing on the road could compromise his team pursuit ambitions.



Are team GB on track? A form guide compiled by Brendan Gallagher

MEN

Sprint

Beijing: Hoy gold, Kenny silver
Form guide: Kenny won silver at 2011 Worlds, Hoy bronze.
Most dangerous opponent: France’s Gregory Bauge.
GB prediction: Hoy silver.

Keirin

Beijing: Hoy gold, Edgar bronze.
Form guide: Hoy took silver behind Australia’s Shane Perkins at 2011 Worlds.
Most dangerous opponent: Perkins and Aziz Awang (Malaysia).
GB prediction: Hoy gold.

Team Sprint

Beijing: GB (Hoy, Kenny, Staff) gold.
Form guide: GB won bronze at 2011 Worlds.
Most dangerous opponents: France and Germany.
GB prediction: silver.

Team Pursuit

Beijing: GB (Wiggins, Thomas, Manning and Clancy) won gold.
Form guide: Australia won the Worlds, GB looked excellent at Manchester World Cup in February.
Most dangerous opponents: Australia and NZ.
GB prediction: gold

Omnium

Beijing: Not contested.
Form guide: Ed Clancy won the 2010 Worlds but did not contest this year.
Most dangerous opponents: Leigh Howard and Cameron Mayer (Australia), Shane Archbold (NZ)
GB Prediction: Clancy bronze.

WOMEN

Individual sprint

Beijing: Victoria Pendleton, gold.
Form guide: Pendleton won bronze at 2011 Worlds.
Most dangerous opponent: Anna Meares, of Australia.
GB prediction: Pendleton gold.

Team Sprint

Beijing: Not contested.
Form guide: GB (Pendleton and Jess Varnish) won silver at this year’s Worlds.
Most dangerous opponents: Mears and Kaarle McCulloch, of Australia.
GB prediction: silver.

Keirin

Beijing: Not contested.
Form guide: Pendleton 7th at this year’s Worlds.
Most dangerous opponent: Anna Mears, of Australia, and Olga Panarino, of Belarus.
GB prediction: no medal.

Team Pursuit

Beijing: Not contested.
Form guide: GB (Danni King, Wendy Houvenaghel and Laura Trott) are world champions.
Most dangerous opponents: US, New Zealand and Australia.
GB prediction: gold.

Omnium

Beijing: Not contested.
Form guide: Laura Trott 11th at 2011 Worlds, Lizzie Armistead silver at 2010 Worlds.
Most dangerous opponent: Tara Whitten (Canada).
GB prediction: no medal.

Telegraph.co.uk