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With the Athens Olympics only a year away now, the teams from around the World hoping for success in the 2004 Olympiad, will be assembling in Stuttgart (Germany) on July 30 for the start of the Track World Championships. Its just one of many important qualifying events that nations have to compete in to ensure they get a place in the different events in Athens.

For the riders in the Great Britain team, the pressure is two fold. One they need to continue qualifying riders for the following World Championships in Melbourne (2004), with places in events at Athens on the line there, and two, for many, they will be defending titles and medals won in Denmark last year.

An example of the pressures involved is the fight for places in the Kilometre Time Trial. In order to get three places in next years World championships to fight for two places in the Olympics where Jason Queally is the defending champion, one of the GB riders needs to win in Stuttgart and on top of that, Chris Hoy, the defending World champion is keen to win another rainbow jersey to add to the two he won last year (interview here). Which means GB will have three riders fighting for that jersey, Chris Hoy, Jason Queally and Jamie Staff.

It isn�t only the kilo where there is a fight for the right to go the Olympics. In the Team Sprint, an event where three riders race around the track to record the fastest time, GB has four riders vying for a spot on the track, Jamie Staff, Jason Queally, Chris Hoy and Craig Maclean (interview here). Of the four, three are defending champions, Hoy, Staff and Maclean while Queally was part of the team that won silver at the last Olympics in Sydney. Competition is fierce and it will be interesting to see who out of the four do the ride for the jerseys in Stuttgart.

Another event where a member of the GB squad was victorious was the Points. Chris Newton surprised the world with a stunning ride last year and since then has backed that up with a further two good rides in World Cups this year, but having won the title last year means he won�t be given any room to move in an event where the element of surprise can be as helpful as a good pair of legs. And with these World Championships being slightly less important in terms of Athens than Melbourne, Newton has more room to chase personal glory rather than concentrate only on the Team Pursuit team which he has been part of for many years now.

Which brings us to the events where GB won�t be defending World Titles but will be looking to try and break the cycle of medalling without actually winning. None more than the Team Pursuit where Bryan Steel, already a three time Olympian, and his teammates would love to win Gold instead of the silvers and bronzes they have been collecting. The Olympic bronze medallists from Sydney have had a very different year in 2003 to prepare and in many ways are, as a team, stronger for it.

Take Rob Hayles for example. The rider who went so close to gold in the 2000 Worlds missing the final by tenths of a second, is back in the squad and Bradley Wiggins too is said to be in very good form after riding the Tour of Italy and then doing a lot of track work. And then there is Paul Manning who showed what a world class pursuiter he is at Herne Hill this year pushing Bradley Wiggins all the way and Steve Cummings. We have an interview with Bryan Steel, click here to read it.

Another rider who will be looking to go one better after getting silver last year is Tony Gibb in the Scratch race. He�s just come back from a successful trip to Italy where in partnership with Scott McGory he was the winner of a six day race. In the Individual Pursuit, Bradley Wiggins and Paul Manning will be chasing medals while in the sprint races, Match Sprint and Keirin, Ross Edgar will be looking take his form from the World Cup in Sydney at the end of May and turn it into medals at the Worlds.

Alongside Ross will Jamie Staff, down to ride the Sprint and the Keirin as well as the Kilo and also possibly the Team Sprint making him one of the busiest riders in the squad. The busiest will be Victoria Pendleton though. The young lady from Stotfold has shown a great deal of improvement since going to the World Cycling School in Switzerland with Ross Edgar and a Scratch race win in the World Cup in Sydney shows that she has the talent for races from 200 metres right up to endurance events.

Our final medal hope is in the Womens Pursuit where Emma Davies will be looking to continue her climb up the ladder. Last year it was fourth and the year before, fifth, so with a little luck, it may well just be her year to get a medal.

BritishCycling.org.uk will be in Stuttgart to follow the fortunes of these riders in their quest to win personal glory as well as glory for the Great Britain team and we�ll have a number of features when we get back to give you a feel for what its like to be with one of the top track cycling nations at a World Championship meeting.

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PROGRAM & GB RIDERS

30th July 2003 (Wednesday)
Men's Individual Pursuit - Qualifying
Bradley Wiggins, Paul Manning 

Men's Time Trial (Kilo) 
Jason Queally, Chris Hoy, Jamie Staff 

Women's Points Race

Men's Scratch
Tony Gibb

31st July 2003 (Thursday)
Men's Individual Pursuit
Bradley Wiggins, Paul Manning 

Men's Keirin
Ross Edgar, Jamie Staff 

Women's Pursuit
Emma Davies

Women's Time Trial (500 metres)
Victoria Pendleton 

1st August 2003 (Friday)
Men's Team Pursuit
Bryan Steel, Steve Cummings, Rob Hayles, Bradley Wiggins, Chris Newton, Paul Manning 

Men's Sprint
Ross Edgar, Jamie Staff 

Women's Individual Pursuit
Emma Davies

Women's Keirin
Victoria Pendleton 

Women's Individual Pursuit
Emma Davies

Men's Points Race
Chris Newton

2nd August 2003 (Saturday)
Women's Sprint
Victoria Pendleton 

Men's Team Pursuit
Bryan Steel, Steve Cummings, Rob Hayles, Bradley Wiggins, Chris Newton, Paul Manning 

Men's Sprint
Ross Edgar, Jamie Staff 

Women's Scratch
Victoria Pendleton 

3rd August 2003 (Sunday)
Women's Sprint
Victoria Pendleton 

Men's Team Sprint
Jason Queally, Chris Hoy, Jamie Staff, Craig MacLean 

Men's Madison