Ed Clancy: I'd trade individual glory to win gold as part of team

ED CLANCY and Alistair Brownlee, Jessica Ennis and Lizzie Armitstead – Yorkshire is breeding world-beating multi-eventers.

With the London 2012 Olympics on the tip of everyone's tongue, such a proud proclamation is heartening.

The broad acres has the best heptathlete in the world in Ennis and the most dominant triathlete on the planet in Brownlee.

And continuing the traditions set by the cyclists in the Beijing velodrome, the county now has two of the finest exponents of multi-discipline track racing in Armitstead and Clancy.

While Armitstead continued her own remarkable rise with silver in the omnium at the Track Cycling World Championships in Copenhagen last weekend, it was 25-year-old Clancy who stole the show by taking his first individual world title in the brand new event.

He even took himself by surprise with his victory, such is his vast experience in the team pursuit in which the Barnsley-born cyclist is an Olympic and triple world champion.

That he is the eldest of the county quartet who will ride and march on the capital in two summers' time with golden ambitions is also encouraging.

But it is not all smooth pedalling from now until the Olympics for Clancy or Armitstead, 21. Both face a major decision about which gold to go for, with the five-discipline omnium potentially falling on the same day as their primary event, the team pursuit.

And although he is the first world champion at the omnium – an event which includes a 200m time trial, 5km scratch, 3km individual pursuit, 15km points race and a 1km time trial – the heart of the self-effacing Clancy lies with the team pursuit.

"You cannot beat standing on the podium with your mates – I love that," said Clancy, who had to settle for the second step last Friday after his team pursuit squad lost their world title showdown to Australia.

"As much glory and adulation as you get from being an individual medallist, I'd rather look back and say I was part of a winning team.

"I'd trade a bit of glory for a win with the boys.

"If there's a chance to do both events, though, I will.

"I enjoyed the omnium more than I thought I would, and after winning the world title I'd be in a with a shout in London. If I can do both in the Olympics I will.

"If it's the same format in London as it was in Copenhagen then I would probably do it.

"But they're putting the omnium up an extra race (elimination race) and increasing the distances for the Olympics and if it lands on the same day, like they're looking at doing, then there's no chance.

"It's impossible to be competitive in the team pursuit if you're doing other races. It's vital to be fresh.

"If it came down to a choice between team pursuit and omnium I'd go with the team pursuit."

Clancy's victory in last Sunday's omnium has elevated him from team player to cycling box office.

After helping the four-man team to gold in Beijing he was able to slip into his preferred environment of the shadows, as the spotlight shone brightly on Sir Chris Hoy and Victoria Pendleton.

He has even resisted the lure of following his Beijing team-mate Bradley Wiggins into road racing, modestly insisting that he would only be 'average at best'.

Clancy is having to adjust to altering perceptions, like yesterday when it fell on him to represent the sport at Stratford at the unveiling of the next stage of constuction of the London Velodrome.

Such an outcome was not on the agenda when he rose an hour before his team-mates in Denmark last Sunday morning, after manually moving an automatic clock forward an hour.

"All my team-mates were snoring when I got up," quipped Clancy, who breakfasted with an Austrian opponent on the day he claimed the world title.

"I always thought I'd have an outside chance in the omnium, so to win it was great, especially after the disappointment of the team pursuit.

"It was a bit of a learning experience. I'd never even done the 200m before but with me getting quite a good kick-off at the start I felt confident I'd be capable.

"Having said that I didn't expect to be leading after that first event.

"The elements of the omnium that included bunch racing were difficult because bunch racing can expose your weaknesses.

"But I couldn't let my head go down because I was still in with a shout going into the final race and I did enough to win gold."

Clancy's victory in the omnium salvaged his championships after the disappointment of the team pursuit squad of Andy Tennant, Steven Burke and 22-year-old Rotherham road race specialist Ben Swift, who lost narrowly to Australia.

"That was hard to take, we had a great opportunity but it just didn't quite happen," reflected Clancy.

"Looking back now we did ourselves proud. We put everything into it and only lost by the slenderest of margins.

"If we won all the time it would lose its meaning, although I felt bad for the younger guys.

"As much as it hurts you have to snap back quickly."

Which is exactly what Clancy did in the omnium. Whether the world champion will add the Olympic omnium title remains to be seen.