British Cyclists on track for Success at London 2012
It was a golden week for British cycling as the Olympic team impressed at the UCI World Cup. Britain have a illustrious history in this Olympic discipline and after a post-Beijing hangover, it appears the team are on course for more Olympic glory, led again by the infallible Sir Chris Hoy who claimed two individual gold medals.
It has been a period of steady transition for Team GB after the 2008 Olympics. The success of the 2008 cycling team has been well documented and quite righty so. Not many would disagree with the opinion that cycling was Britain’s most successful Olympic sport four years ago. The statistics speak for themselves. Remarkably, in a discipline so competitive, out of the 14 riders named in Britain’s track cycling squad for the Beijing 2008 Olympics, 13 won medals. To follow on from this monumental haul was never going to be easy, and so it has proved.
Since Beijing, the British team have been matched and in some cases eclipsed at recent major events with the likes of France, Germany and Australia narrowing the gap considerably. Australia, in particular, our great Olympic rivals look well placed to push Britain all the way in London and this was shown by their performance at the World Cup, winning key events such as the Men’s pursuit and finishing with just one medal less than the home nation. Moreover, in Anna Meares, the Australians have a cyclist who has already proved that she can beat Victoria Pendleton, the pin-up girl of British Cycling.
In addition to Britain’s rival countries closing in on the times set by our Olympic athletes, new rules have been introduced which allow only one competitor per nation for each of the five events. This will inevitably make it more difficult for Britain to match their haul from Beijing where Britain often had several riders in the finals on their way to seven gold medals.
It wasn’t just the cyclists who lived up to their billing last weekend as the Olympic Velodrome passed it’s biggest test run with flying colours, receiving universal praise. Sir Chris Hoy highly commended the venue, especially the atmosphere it created. The Beijing medalist was quoted as saying ’’Honestly, I’ve never been to any venue, any track in the world, and seen any home nation get the support we’ve had today. The wall of noise when you’re on the track is unbelievable.’’
Whilst the past four years have been talked about as a transition period, in which the team has built upon the success of Beijing, the spine of the team remain. Of the fourteen squad members who went to China, eight are still here, fighting for their place at London 2012. The squad has experience. With the likes of Hoy, Kenny and Pendleton still very much part at the top of their game. Alongside youngsters such as Laura Trott and Ben Swift, the GB team has a good balance of experience and youth.
The World Championships in Melbourne in April are another chance for the riders to impress before the main event in the summer, but if last weekend’s performances are anything to go by, the golden era of British Cycling looks set to continue.