British track cyclists set for greatness NEWS
After a hugely successful World Track Cycling championships, in which they topped the medal table, Britain's young track team has been tipped to continue their development and achieve greatness in the future.
Team GB won nine medals at the UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Minsk to top the medal table as they did in the London 2012 Olympics with five gold medals, two silvers and two bronzes. Track team boss Shane Sutton believes that such success hot on the heels of London 2012, with a number of young riders emerging from the shadow of superstars Chris Hoy and Victoria Pendleton, shows the team is heading for greatness at Rio 2016.
As well as the established performers Jason Kenny, who won gold in the keirin, and off-track partner Laura Trott, who won gold as part of the team pursuit quartet and individual silver in the omnium, there were other successes featuring riders who are a little less well known.
Becky James was perhaps the overall star of the event, winning two gold medals, in the sprint and keirin events, taking on Victoria Pendleton's mantle as the queen of British cycling, as well as a bronze in the 500m time trial and a bronze in partnership with Vicky Williamson in the team sprint. James had been unlucky to miss out on an Olympics place in London but she looks set to be a mainstay of Team GB for years to come.
Other new names to mark for the future are Simon Yates, who won the men's points race, A-level student Elinor Barker who was part of the successful women's team pursuit squad with Trott and Dani King, as well as Vicky Williamson.
Its clear that Team GB intend to build on their success in London and are not resting on their laurels. They obviously have the talent to dominate for years with such fantastic young riders vying for a chance to show their medal-winning ability, and Team GB's pre-eminence is all the more remarkable given the names who could compete for a track place if they decided to leave road racing - such as Sir Bradley Wiggins, Geraint Thomas, Mark Cavendish, Peter Kennaugh and Jo Rowsell.
Whilst those names would spark real interest in the eyes of the public the evolution of track cycling has been such that any of them would have to commit to a minimum of a year's preparation prior to Rio in order for it to be a viable proposition and that is unlikely. The good news is, that with the stars of Minsk have shown they are capable enough to deliver Team GB's Rio dream of more golds.
At the same stage four years ago, after a successful Beijing Olympics Team GB, Team GB won nine medals at the world championships, but only two golds. With five golds this time out they are in a much better position going forward and there is great optimism for Rio 2016 already.
This latest success comes amidst a truly golden period for British cycling with Wiggo's historic Tour de France victory, London 2012 Olympic success and the news that the 2014 Tour Grand Depart will take place in Yorkshire with a further two stages in the UK.
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