Drawing Board Looms For Britain’s Track Rivals
by Justin Davis
BEIJING, Aug 20, 2008 (AFP) - Britain’s track cycling rivals have been
warned: be prepared to improve or get left behind at London in 2012, and beyond.
With a final tally of seven golds, three silver and two bronze from a total of 30 medals, Britain’s talented track team have put the sport firmly on the map - and left their rivals in the shade.
And British track cycling chief, Dave Brailsford, believes there’s plenty more to come. Asked how he saw the coming years of the Olympiad, Brailsford was unforgiving about his rivals’ chances.
“I think the biggest challenge for us is going to come from within the team,” he said after seeing Scotland’s Chris Hoy on Tuesday become the first Briton in 100 years to claim three gold medals in a single Games.
Hoy, a 32-year-old from Edinburgh, proved the talisman of a squad which is brimming with talent, from pursuit specialist Bradley Wiggins to former Olympic rower Rebecca Romero who won gold in the individual pursuit to add to a quadruple sculls silver from Athens.
Cited as the man who drives forward Britain’s unstoppable team of sprinters, he is also something of an enigma for his rivals.
Some, like Theo Bos, were blown away by Hoy’s ability to produce bursts of unmatchable speed in the sprint and keirin tournaments.
A three-time world sprint champion who won sprint silver behind Australian Ryan Bayley in Athens, Bos left the Games without a medal.
“It’s like he has swallowed a motorbike,” said Bos, who was so blown away he said he is unsure whether he will go all the way to London in 2012.
The French sprint coach, Benoit Vetu, claims the two sprinters he coaches, Kevin Sireau and Mickael Bourgain, have “at least as much talent as Hoy”.
But he said when it comes to planning for the demands of Olympic competition, Britain have raised the bar significantly.
“We work hard, but compared to the way the British work, we are amateurs,”
said Vetu.
“In 2008, we’re operating the same way we did in 1991. At (the national coaching centre) Hyeres, there’s a coach, a part-time assistant and that’s it.
“We have all the specialists you like in France, but there’s no money to pay for them.”
That “amateur” approach was echoed by British sprint coach Iain Dyer, who said he was just as surprised by his team’s improved performances as the mediocre ones from their rivals.
“I’m surprised that some other nations didn’t even match their worlds’
performance, let alone show a progression,” he said.
For Vetu, and others with the job of putting together a medal-winning Olympic team, the challenge over the coming four to eight years is now clear.
Australia’s track chief Shayne Bannan said he laments the comparative “lack of access” to his riders, some of whom have professional commitments to road racing teams in Europe.
“That’s something we will have to look at. We need to get riders together for a longer period of time,” said Bannan, who admitted that Britain’s success has forced them to sit up and “refocus”.
With millions of pounds from the National Lottery, Britain boast the best technical specialists that money can buy.
Costs of equipment, training, and one-on-one care - including an influential sports psychiatrist - come out of a significant cash pot provided by lottery ticket buyers, as does the annual grants given to all of their riders.
Australia, in comparison, have less than a fifth of Britain’s annual track cycling budget - estimated to be in the region of five million pounds.
Bannan said they knew they faced a formidable challenge in Beijing, and admits the race is now on to redress the balance.
But he says it’s not just about the money.
“It has made a lot of teams sit up and take notice.
“But it’s not just the money. It’s about the way you manage it. Even with half the budget, they would still get the same results,” he added.
While Australia will be looking to re-energize their sprinting and pursuit teams ahead of London, France have traditionally focused on the sprint and keirin events.
After winning silver in their pet event of the team sprint, they failed to medal in the keirin. Only a bronze from Bourgain saved their blushes in the individual sprint.
Both Australia and France failed to win track cycling gold in Beijing.
But Vetu said they couldn’t have tried any harder.
“Even though we’ve put in 110 percent effort, we’re effectively trailing
(Britain) by two Olympiads,” said the Frenchman.
“We’ve worked as hard as anyone else over the last three years. With what we have, we can’t do any better.”
Ahead of London in 2012, Brailsford says no quarter will be given.
“It certainly doesn’t get monotonous for me, I can tell you,” he said.
“It’s a very British thing to worry are we winning too much.
“It doesn’t fit into my vocabulary, I can tell you, and we’ll keep on going. That’s what I’m paid for, to win Olympic medals.”
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