GB On Track for 2008 Olympics

 

Story posted March 26, 2007
By Larry Hickmott (larryhickmott@britishcycling.org.uk)

Home Page Track Worlds

 

Interview: Great Britain Cycling Performance Director Dave Brailsford

 

Prior to the World Track Championships in Majorca, the head of the Great Britain Cycling team, Performance Director Dave Brailsford, says there is little pressure on the team except to bring back Rainbow jerseys!

 

"We can approach the Palma World Championship in the full knowledge that we are exactly where we want to be at this point prior to the Beijing Olympics. In the Team Pursuit for example, we were looking to go sub four minutes at this point in the Olympic cycle and we did that at Manchester (World Cup). Consequently we can relax and enjoy the Worlds and focus only on achieving the best performances possible which we hope will gain the team a few rainbow jerseys.”

 

Talking about the selection process for a major event like the World Track Championships, he explained "our analysis and data  collection is so good nowadays, that the team selects itself as its all done on objective data. As a result, the coaches job is simply to help our riders be the best they can be so and the objective data means that the team will pick itself. Wherever possible we have moved totally away from having to rely on subjective decisions when it comes to selections. This is especially important with the number of quality riders we now have competing for places and its too tight to call on "gut feelings" alone.

 

Chris Boardman, Dave Brailsford, Shane Sutton and Matt Parker discuss a team performance on the track at the pre-Worlds training camp.

 

To help the team with this data gathering process, there is a close relationship between Team GB and the North West EIS based across the road.  They provide many a  performance analyst and other specialist coach and will be a key part of the team in Majorca. "There will be performance analysts going to Palma to capture all the racing and that will fed down to the Team's pits wirelessly so we have the information in front of our eyes in real time to feed to the coaches and to the riders if need be."

 

The Performance Director then gave an example of how this can be used saying "like for the Team and Individual pursuits in the first round. We'll have all the numbers to assess what went on in the first ride and how that can be useful for us in the second ride."

 

Strength in depth
With five riders making their World Championship debuts in 2007 and others having done so since the Athens Olympics (Clancy, Thomas, Cavendish etc), the  performance director is keen to praise his staff who  have helped introduce the new initiatives the team have created aimed at keeping the momentum going of a  successful team. "All the team have done a great job of building the new Junior and Academy programmes and we are now starting to see the fruits of their labours.

 

"And these former juniors are there in the team on merit" he stressed.

 

The team also sees a rider crossing over from BMX to ride the track, Shanaze Reade. Talking about the Junior World BMX champion, he says "Shanaze is a BMXer, first and foremost, and always will be. Her priority is to get on the podium in Beijing but through the winter she has been able to train with the squad which she has enjoyed, being part of the professional environment here."

 

"She is a winner and will go all the way and likes to be around winners.”

 

“Being with the track team this winter, Shanaze has taken a lot on board from being in a such  a professional environment, something she will take back to BMX and make her a better BMX'er."

 

"The fact she can get on the track and compete there is fantastic. It was her choice and if the Team Sprint for example was introduced to the Olympics in 2012, there is no  reason she couldn't go for two medals in two disciplines."

 

Director of Coaching – Chris Boardman
Finally, a familiar face in the track centre on Thursday was Chris Boardman who is the GB team's Director of Coaching. The former Olympic champion and Yellow jersey in the Tour de France has an unmatched level of experience at World Championships and major competitions and is a key figure in the team.

 

His team role Brailsford explained is to make sure the coaches are getting the best training and support for them to be the best coaches they can be and then to help them with the delivery and monitoring of that coaching.

 

Boardman's role is just another one of the pieces in the jigsaw that goes in making the GB Cycling Team the most professionally run outfit in the World, and proof of that is the World Class athletes being developed and given a chance at winning medals in the biggest competitions the sport has such as the Olympics.

 

The years since Sydney 2000 have certainly seen a lot of progression, not just by the athletes but by the team as a whole with new programmes, new staff, new equipment and no doubt, any stone yet unturned, will be looked at as the 2008 Olympics looms large in the teams radar.

 

Chris from the BBC talks with Performance Director Dave Brailsford during the Pre-Worldss training camp.