BACK IN THE SADDLE FOR CYCLING WORLD CUP

 

BACK IN THE SADDLE FOR CYCLING WORLD CUP 

by Rebecca Lee - 30.10.08

Only two months ago Great Britain's cyclists were putting on a historic performance at the Laoshan Olympic Velodrome at the Beijing Games. Marking the countdown to 2012, this weeks UCI Track Cycling World Cup in Manchester will be the first major international track event since the Games as GB cyclists get back in the saddle.

From the 31st October - 2nd November the track championships, held at the Manchester Velodrome, will see a host of medallists from the Games in China take to the boards, with some fresh faces joining the line-up.

Double gold medallist Bradley Wiggins will ride the Madison with pursuit gold medallist Geraint Thomas. Fellow medallists Ed Clancy, Victoria Pendleton and Chris Newton will also appear with newcomer Steven Burke (5th man for the team pursuit in Beijing) along with Sydney and Athens cyclist Rob Hayles strengthening the GB line-up. Chris Hoy will not get back on his bike just yet, although is set to make an appearance in the stands.

For those athletes competing in Beijing, the ‘off-season’ was consumed by competition, making the World Cup series a challenging tournament. However, with the likes of Victoria Pendleton planning to compete in a select number of events, re-building her strength work with English Institute of Sport (EIS) Strength & Conditioning Coach Mark Simpson in between, athletes will be peaking in time for the World Championships, which the series grants qualification for.

EIS practitioners have continued working closely with the British Cycling programme supporting training, coaching and competitions since the Olympic and Paralympic Games this summer. Included in the support team will be EIS Performance Analysts Chris White and Duncan Locke, who will be captuing relevant data not only on the GB riders but also their competitors to ensure they have the best picture of the line-up for coaches to utilise, along with EIS Physiotherapist Phil Burt, who travelled with the squad in Beijing and will be support athletes over the weekend.

The World Cup series gives countries the chance to qualify for the World Championships in 2009. International stars including Teun Mulder of the Netherlands, Argentina’s Walter Perez and Ukraine’s Lesya Kalitovsyka will be hoping to challenge their British rivals. The other rounds for the series will be in Melbourne (20th-22nd November), Cali (11th-13th December), Beijing (16th-18th January) and Copenhagen (13th-15th February).

Tickets for this weekend’s event, supported by UK Sport’s World Class Events Programme, sold out in record time but for those not able to attend, the action can be caught on BBC Interactive from 7pm-10.40pm on Friday 31st October, 7pm-10pm on Saturday 1st November and a highlights programme with the live action on Sunday 2nd November 2-5pm.

For more information about the event visit the British Cycling website here

Photography © Getty Images