Junior Star Coming of Age in World Cups
Interview: Jason Kenny
January 2007
In the track centre at Manchester recently, training for his next UCI World Track Cup round, we spoke to Jason Kenny, winner of a Gold in Moscow and a Bronze in Los Angeles. Still only 18, the triple World Junior Champion in the sprint events is already showing that he is competitive at World Senior level and as always, Jason was a little on the modest side when saying "I didn't know what to expect in LA so I think it went well".
Fourth fastest in Sprint qualifying, only a few hundredths behind World Record breaker in the Team Sprint, Gregory Bauge, Jason is more than just a little modest as he talks about his Sprint competition. "I still really don't know what to make of it to be honest. My training before it went really well and on the LA track, we just seemed to bond! I felt pretty comfortable on it and didn't have to worry about anything".
Right: At Revolution 15, Jason Kenny had the firepower to beat Roberto Chiappa but in LA, the Italian got his revenge denying Kenny a shot at Gold.
"I was obviously pleased with how my qualifying ride went. The main thing for me was to go for a good time and I was pleased with that. After that, I just went out to finish as high as I could (4th)."
Prior to LA, Jason did a lot of work to prepare specifically for the Sprint. He could be found working hard in the gym under the watchful eye of National Sprint coach Iain Dyer and then on the track with help from Iain again as well as Jan van Eijden. He agreed that the hard work paid off adding "LA fell very much in the middle of my training cycle but tactically, I learnt a lot on that one day in Los Angeles. From the first race to the last one, I feel I got a lot better."
"It felt completely different to the racing as a junior. Everyone is a lot bigger and stronger and the races are a lot faster earlier. There are a lot more people just waiting to take advantage of your mistakes".
Jason in training wearing GB colours. At Manchester, he'll be the Man in Black racing for SiS.
Riding in the colours of Science in Sport, as he will in Manchester, Jason was mainly being looked after by his coach in the Olympic Academy, Iain Dyer. Just the same as in other events, like the Junior Worlds, 10 minutes before his event as he warms up and gets ready for the race. His coach will then discuss with him his opponent and how to race him either from the front or from the back. They would talk about known weaknesses of the opponent for example and then as the riders are called up to race, it's in the lap of the gods as he draws for position and has a final pep talk from his coach on the line.
In LA, his speed and tactics stood him in good stead and he beat Olympic Sprint medallist (Team Sprint Gold medallist) and former (2005) World Champion Rene Wolff no less in the 1/8th final. Then, in the quarters, he saw off Polish rider Lukasz Kwiatkowski in two straight rides. It was the semis where he felt he had a good chance of making the ride off for Gold as he came up against Roberto Chiappa who he had beaten at the Revolution series.
Roberto Chiappa though, on a new bike, a British built Dolan, was a different animal in LA than he was in Manchester. "I had qualified faster and was confident" Jason told us, "but he was racing well and knew how to beat me. I led it out and he rolled me on the line."
Jason now sets his sights on Manchester and if ever there was a future star to come and see in action, it's Jason. Even in training he is quite spectacular, especially in the derny chases. He wasn't sure what events he will do in Manchester but his coach confirmed that it's expected that Jason will be doing the same in Manchester as he did in LA, namely Sprint and Team Sprint.
Jason says that after having enjoyed racing in front of a large crowd at the Revolution meetings, it will be similar at the Manchester World Track Cup where he hopes there will be a really big crowd to get behind him and lift him.
At Manchester, Jason will have the opportunity to use the experience he gained in LA to good use on the Saturday when he tackles the Sprint on his home boards. He was hoping to ride the Keirin where he says it will be more of a level playing field but fresh legs in the Sprint will help him get through what all sprinters will tell you is a long old day going through all the rounds.
Talking about the Keirin though, Jason says. "Because there are more people, and there are more things that can go wrong, being faster than everyone is not such a big advantage as it is in the sprint where there is only two of you on the track".
With the Manchester UCI World Track Cup event only three weeks away, Jason's preparation is changing to help him be as good as he can be for the event "the training is becoming more speed orientated rather than strength orientated" he explained. "The week before LA it was about strength but now it's going to be about using that strength to get some more speed."
Looking at how well his sprint times compared to the established stars in LA, it would appear that if there is more speed to come in the short term, then the 18 year old will certainly shock some of the established riders in his events which will start on the Saturday with the Sprint and finally the Team Sprint on the Sunday. We wish him lots of luck for an event where he is certain to entertain the crowd if nothing else!"
Training for a young sprinter takes them into the gym and out on their bike.
Event Programme Information and ticket information
Full details of the UCI Track Cycling Manchester World Cup event programme can be found on www.worldtrackcycling.com which includes a link directly to the Ticketmaster page for the event. Day ticket prices start at £12 for adults and £6 for children.
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Anna Blyth & Jason Kenny Interviews (Moscow World Track Cup)
