Brits a-Hoy on the cycling track

(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-08-16 09:13

Britain's Chris Hoy could face his biggest test yet as the king of the cycling sprint track when he races to add Olympic gold to his two world titles today.

A day after aiming to give his country the edge in the team sprint, the hotly contested cycling event, also known as the keirin, Hoy will cap a day two schedule in which Bradley Wiggins will aim to defend his pursuit crown and several riders will be in tow to win the hard-to-predict points race.

The British track cycling team of Chris Hoy (front) Jason Kenny and Jamie Staff compete in the men's team sprint qualifying round yesterday. REUTERS

Britain comes into the Olympics with world crowns in seven of the 10 gold medal events that are set to blow the roof off the Laoshan Velodrome. But just how well they fare could be partly determined by the psychological edge gained by some early wins - from the likes of Hoy, the rest of his three-man sprint team, and Wiggins.

Dubbed the "Real McHoy", Hoy became world sprint champion for the first time on home soil in March, defending his keirin title and helping Britain to team sprint silver behind France.

Hoy is the two-time reigning world keirin champion and, he claims, has the form of his life. "I'm in as good shape as I can be; I'd be disappointed if I don't go better than I've ever gone before," said the Edinburgh-born rider, the reigning champion in the now defunct kilometer event.

"When you look across the medal opportunities, it's been driven by the track, and it is absolutely the best British team," British cycling chief Dave Brailsord said last week.

In Brailsord's eyes, his star-studded team's main challenge will come from Australia, the Netherlands and France.

Australia's reigning Olympic keirin and sprint champion Ryan Bayley, as well as Frenchman Arnaud Tournant, will be among those looking to bust Hoy's usual tactic of using sheer power to ride at the front and keep his rivals at bay.

"Tactics wise, I think I've got it over him, legs-wise, I think he's got it over me," Bayley, who admits his form has been 'up and down', said in Beijing on Thursday. "My tactics aren't the best either, but I'm hoping to be one of the guys to challenge him."

The keirin will be Tournant's Olympic swansong and perhaps the perfect excuse for France's fiery 14-time world champion to go that extra mile in a bid for his sole aim of "victory". "If you accept you've lost, it's not a good mentality," said Tournant, who has three Olympic medals including gold from the team sprint in Sydney 2000.

Wiggins - with four medals already Britain's most decorated Olympic cyclist - will be aiming to qualify for his second consecutive Olympic final today.

The 27-year-old Londoner starts as the world champion, and the man to beat for the likes of Australian Brad McGee, who finished second behind Wiggins in Athens.

But to have any medal chances they will need to post times in the region of, or faster than, 4min 20sec during qualifying, then a first round before making the final.

The men's points race pits 19-year-old Australian Cameron Meyer, a three-time world junior champion on the track, against a strong bunch that includes reigning Olympic champion Mikhail Ignatiev of Russia, Belarussia's world champion Vasili Kiriyienka and Dutchman Peter Schep.

Agencies

(China Daily 08/16/2008 page22)