BEIJING, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- Team Britain looks set to dominate the Lao Shan
velodrome after a super performance at the 2008 Manchester world championship in
March.
At Manchester, the hosts claimed a stunning 11 of the 54 medals, including
nine golds, while the transitional rivals Australia and France were left in the
Britain's wake at the last two world championship in 2007 and 2008.
Four years ago, British cyclists only won two golds, one silver and one
bronze in Athens. This year, however, with super stars like Chris Hoy, Victoria
Pendleton and Bradley Winggins, team Britain has already set its eyes on over
half of the 10 track titles on offer.
"When you look across the medal opportunities, it's been driven by the track,
and it is absolutely the best British team," said British cycling chief Dave
Brailsord last week.
In Brailsord's eyes, his star-studded team's main challenge will come from
Australia, the Netherlands and France.
"Everyone thinks we're just going to show up and win it. It's going to be a
close call," Brailsford said, "The Danes have stepped up. They've been training
at altitude, they've gone all out and taken some risks. If it pays off, they're
going to be fantastic."
According to Brailsord, Chris Hoy is aiming for three titles in the team
sprint, keirin and sprint, while Wiggis contests for three golds in the
individual and team pursuit and the Madison.
Dubbed the "Real McHoy" by fans, Hoy became world sprint champion for the
first time on home soil this March, defending his keirin title and helping
Britain to team sprint silver behind France.
The Real McHoy believes he is ready for the Olympics by saying: "When you've
been training for the last four years for this one event, to have the goal posts
moved like that, and you're no longer aiming at a time you thought you were
aiming for, but at a time that nobody's ever gone faster than before."
Hoy also hopes they could repeat their stunning performance in men's team
pursuit, of which they set a new world record of three minutes and 56.322
seconds in Manchester.
As for British women cyclists, two-time world champion Pendleton will be a
big gold favorite in the women's sprint and the reigning world champion Rebecca
Romero will also pose big threats to other contenders in the women's
pursuit.
The Beijing Olympic track cycling competition will be held from Aug 15 to
19 at the Lao Shan velodrome.