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By British Cycling's Larry Hickmott Tomorrow Scotland's Craig Maclean will be one of five Great Britain cyclists kicking off the action on the Olympic velodrome in Athens. Craig will be riding the Kilometre, the event he holds the British record for but at the same time, an event he has yet to win an international honour in and the Olympics might just be a good place for him to start! He certainly has the potential after producing two 1.01 kilos within 12 months - the first at the Olympic trials where his time was the third fastest ever at sea level and the second at the Manchester World Cup in April this year. Whilst his Scottish teammate Chris Hoy has picked up two Golds in the Worlds (2002 & 2004) in this event, Craig is still waiting for lady luck to shine on him and be rewarded for the obvious talent that has for this event. For many years Craig was British champion in the kilo but after the Sydney Olympics, he soon found a niche as the first man in the Team Sprint, quickly becoming the fastest one lap rider in the world. Then, in 2003, he returned to have another go at the kilometre and all of a sudden, Great Britain didn't just have Olympic (Jason Queally) and World Champions (Chris Hoy -twice) in their team along with Jamie Staff who was close to the money in that event, they now had a fourth contender, Craig Maclean. It meant that this year there had to be a ride off within the GB team just to see who would get the two spots in Melbourne and Craig was the first to try at Manchester, doing a 1.01.6 to win the World Cup competition despite having been ill in the months leading up to that event. And he beat a rider who would the next month get a bronze in the Worlds in the Kilo as well as a Gold in the sprint, Holland's Theo Bos. Maclean had showed time and time again that he could beat these guys but for one reason or another, his luck had run out at the major championships. The Worlds in Melbourne this year was a perfect example when he was unsuccessful in the Kilometre (if you can all a 1.02 unsuccessful!) and he was not his normal self in the Team Sprint. He wasn't the only team member who was suffering from the long time away from home, as well as the effects of sickness that affected the team, and it showed in his performances. Now though, the Olympics is only a day away for him and I caught up with the muscle bound rider at Newport when he was at the track doing some steady training on the Kilo bike. Asked how his preparation has been after the Worlds, he explained "I wouldn't say its been the best preparation but things are starting to go well now. There have been injuries and illness since Melbourne but these things happen and you just have to get on with it. After Melbourne, it was tough physically getting back into training and that can be a platform I found for picking up injuries." Asked how the indicators were, the Manchester based rider talked down his form as he has done on a number of occasions such is his modesty or perhaps his lack of confidence in his own undoubted ability. If ever there was a rider who likes to let his legs do the talking, its Craig, and on more than one occasion, those legs have been shouting pretty loud about how good he really is in terms of his ranking in the World. "I'm not where I want to be" he explained, "but considering what I have done in the last few weeks, I am pretty happy with the way I am and with one or two sessions this week and a couple of good ones next week, it will make all the difference."
Craig gives nothing but 110 per cent for the team and country as he does here in the Sydney World Cup where he had great form. Craig lead the team to a victory in this World Cup event. With all this talk of a disrupted preparation, I put it to him though that his training for Manchester wasn't brilliant but he still managed to pull one out of the bag. Did that give him extra confidence for Athens? "Yes, I can take a lot of confidence from that. I also know though how much training I put in before Manchester. Although it was sporadic, it was quite consistent and I didn't have too many injuries at that point so I would only ever miss one or two days at the most. Whereas recently I have had almost two weeks off the bike and a week out of the gym. That said, it's not really effected my speed but may have effected my endurance." Asked what his targets were in Athens, Craig says "I am still aiming for the Kilo and the Team Sprint. As for anything else, we'll see how I am at the time." To get an indicator on how his lack of training will effect him, the team was planning a dress rehearsal a few days after we spoke but knowing Craig from Manchester and other events, he always seems to come up trumps when the pressure is on. Even at the Worlds when his form was not the best after sickness went around the camp after Sydney, he still managed a 1.02 in the Kilo which as Chris Hoy pointed out would have been a medal winning ride four years ago. Asked has Newport been better for him than the same time before the Sydney Olympics, Craig replied "its been good and we've been pretty focused since we have been here. I've had to be with all the cramming I've done for the big test! Everything about the camp has been good, hotel, track and so on. I've got everything I need here including my drum kit! Being here forces you to sit down and do nothing which is something I need to do because I am inclined to do more than just rest when at home. There is always something that needs doing around the house, little things that eat into your recovery." Asked if the experience he has built up over the last five years will help in Athens, he replied "It does because we know want to expect when you go into the village." But the Kilo he says, is a new experience for him, and he said "I'm still a little bit of a novice riding these at this level of competition and I'm not sure how much its going to take out of me mentally and physically, but I think it will have less impact on the Team Sprint with me being man one than if I was man three. So that will work in our favour." Which only leaves us to wait for the big day and hope that the rider who has the numbers that prove is certainly one of the best riders in the sprint events, get his rewards, a medal or two to reward him for the years of hard work. In Athens, Craig will have a lot of family support with his parents, girlfriend and uncles there and I am sure, everyone in the UK who has had the pleasure of watching the hulk (that was his chosen fancy dress at last years charity race meeting) race around the velodromes in the world will also be wishing him all the luck in the world - go get them Craig, the World is yours for the taking!
There were many highlights in the Sydney World Track Cup this year but one of the biggest for me was seeing Craig win the Sprint, showing great tactics as he crowded some of the worlds top sprinters and came from behind with great speed. lets see a repeat in Athens Craig! Below: Craig and Chris get in some practice at a Manchester meeting in 2003 wearing their Rainbow jerseys from the 2002 Worlds ....
GREAT BRITAIN OLYMPIC TEAM IN BREIF Rider (potential events) Oli Beckingsale (Mens Mountain Biking) Nicole Cooke (Women's Road Race) Steve Cummings: (Team Pursuit) Stuart Dangerfield: (Men's Road Time Trial) Emma Davies: (Womens Individual Pursuit/Womens Points Race) Ross Edgar: (Sprint, Keirin) Roger Hammond: (Mens Road Race) Rob Hayles: (Mens Individual Pursuit/Team Pursuit/Madison) Rachel Heal: (Womens Road Race) Chris Hoy: (Kilo/Team Sprint) Jeremy Hunt: (Mens Road Race) Liam Killeen: (Mens Mountain Biking) Craig MacLean: (Kilo/Team Sprint) Paul Manning: (Mens Individual Pursuit/Team Pursuit) Chris Newton: (Team Pursuit/Mens Points Race) Victoria Pendleton: (500TT/Womens Sprint) Jason Queally: (Kilo/Team Sprint) Jamie Staff: (Kilo, Team Sprint, Keirin) Bryan Steel: (Team Pursuit) Sara Symington: (Womens Road Race) Charly Wegalius: (Mens Road Race) Bradley Wiggins: (Individual Pursuit/Team Pursuit/Madison) Julian Winn: (Mens Road Race)
The Great Britain Cycling Team for the Paralympics Tandems
(click for bios) Aileen
McGlynn - 22.06.73/Glasgow Ian
Sharpe - 27.10.70/Ramsey, Isle of Man Solos Gary Williams - 05.03.68/Bickerstaffe, Lancs
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