"IT'S like the house is on fire, and we're just trying to save the furniture." So says Cycling Australia coach Martin Barras in Heroes, Villains and Velodromes, the new book about Chris Hoy and the rest of the British track cycling team by freelance journalist Richard Moore.
Barras is responding to the supremacy of the British team at March's track World Championships in Manchester when half of the 18 titles went to home riders. And this after the 2007 Worlds when seven golds were secured by Great Britain.
The idea of
such sentiments from an Australian mouth would have been fanciful in 2004 when British cyclists were considered a success having won two Olympic golds. Australia had waltzed home from Athens with six.
In 1997, the year Peter Keen initiated what Moore has called the track cycling revolution, the notion would have been considered laughable. But 11 years on, it is reality – the rest of the cycling world are fighting over Britain's scraps.
Not all of the 10 events in which British cyclists hold world titles will be contested in Beijing, but seven of them will be.
Top of the list of probable heroes are Bradley Wiggins and Hoy.
Wiggins became the first British athlete since Mary Rand in 1964 to win three medals in one Games in Athens. He can be reasonably expected to be contending for gold again in the individual pursuit, team pursuit and the Madison.
He remains just about untouchable in individual pursuiting, but life might be tougher in the team pursuit, where Australia have traditionally held the upper hand.
However, the world record is British thanks to the efforts of Wiggins, Paul Manning, Huddersfield's Ed Clancy and Geraint Thomas in Manchester this spring.
Hoy – Britain's other gold-medalist from Athens – had to rebuild his career as the event which brought him success four years ago was deleted from the Olympic programme in 2005.
The 32-year-old has simply applied his trademark scientific precision to becoming the world's best keirin rider and, almost as a by-product, the world sprint champion. He will also contest the team sprint.
Victoria Pendleton has won world titles in three events but, unfairly, women sprint cyclists only have one Olympic event – the sprint.
Rebecca Romero will look to add cycling gold – in the individual pursuit – to the rowing silver she won in Athens.
Click here to read about Yorkshire's Olympic cyclist Ed Clancy.Click here to read Olympic rower Andy Hodge's exclusive blog.The full article contains 418 words and appears in n/a newspaper.
