Manchester UCI World Track Cup
Training Day Features, Tuesday, 20th of February
UCI Manchester World Track Cup, February 23-25, 2007
(Tickets now available on the door at the Manchester Velodrome)
by Larry Hickmott
Paul Manning leads the GB Team Pursuit quartet around the track at Manchester in a very impressive display by the World Championship Silver medallists from 2006 and the Athens Olympics.
With only a few days to go before the Manchester UCI World Track Cup kicks off on Friday, the riders in the Great Britain Cycling team were putting the final touches to their preparation at Manchester today (Feb 20). Most of the riders who will be competing for GB or one of the team's associated sponsored squads, were at the training session with the main absentees being the Women endurance riders training in Newport with their coach Dan Hunt.
As before any major competition, there was a big difference between today's training session and the normal ones done through out the year. The track centre was filled with riders and staff all working together to ensure the riders are prepared as well as they can be for the biggest competition of the year for them prior to the World Track Championships in a months time.
Right: A legend coach in his home city of Brisbane, long time Brisbane Broncos coach Wayne Bennet was a guest of the team and spent time talking to the riders.
As well as the riders and staff from GB, there was also the BBC who were doing interviews and capturing footage of the team prior to the competition starting, and much to my surprise, there was also a visit by another team who went largely unnoticed. The Brisbane Broncos Rugby League team, my local team back in Australia, who are in the area to play St Helens in the World Club Challenge Cup competition were paying the GB team a visit.
It wasn't only me who found the whole visit by them exciting as many of the females in the track centre were also taken by the muscle bound Rugby players with the term 'eye candy' being used by one? Not sure what she meant but back to the cycling! The session was kicked off at 1pm by the Endurance riders in the 100% ME squad who completed the first of three efforts watched closely by coach Rod Ellingworth.
The 100% ME riders give it everything in one of three efforts.
Whilst the rest of the GB riders waited their turn on their track as per the afternoons training schedule, Ben Swift, Jonny Bellis, Andy Tennant and Steven Burke circled the track at race pace, working on their changes. With Ross Sander having left the team, Ian Stannard concentrating on the road and Alex Dowsett at school still, the coach has brought in Ben Swift who seems to be recovering nicely from his injury he sustained in the Tour of Britain.
Swift was in fact quite pleased that not only is he getting a ride in the prestigious Team Pursuit but also a start in the Madison with Jonny Bellis. His shoulder injury having healed enough for him to compete in the Madison, his favourite event, means the duo will take to the track with another British pairing of class, Rob Hayles and Geraint Thomas.
Both Hayles and Thomas were at the track training along with the rest of the Endurance riders. Whilst Hayles joined Wiggins, Ed Clancy and Paul Manning for a very impressive Team Pursuit effort over 3K where they raced at record speeds around the Manchester boards, which the performance manager felt did them a lot of good so close to the World Cup, Thomas joined Chris Newton, second in the Points race in LA, for three 20 minute sessions behind the derny.
New Mens Endurance coach Matt Parker goes through their effort on the track with one eye on the World Cup and the other on Beijing 2008.
Looking after the endurance riders was new Endurance Mens coach Matt Parker, taking time to man the stop watches, talk to the riders and give them feedback after the effort on the track along with Performance Manager Shane Sutton. It had been, as the coaches explained, an important single effort where the riders were able to get a thorough hit out and find their limits with only days to go to the World Cup.
If the Endurance riders were busy, the Sprinters were especially so with the track centre packed with World and Olympic champions/medallists from years gone by and supplemented by future champions too. The likes of Chris Hoy, Jason Queally, Craig MacLean, Victoria Pendleton and many others were also backed up by a strengthened team of staff. Along with Iain Dyer, National Sprint coach, there was consultant coach Jan van Eijden and sports scientist Scott Gardner looking after the riders.
Whilst many like Chris Hoy did chases behind the derny at speeds of 50mph, others such as Matthew Crampton completed maximal efforts over 500 metres without the need of a pacer. With so many different riders preparing for an event specific to them, the efforts from the sprinters all varied and with so many riders there preparing, it was a long afternoon made a little longer by TV interviews and others from the media attending the session.
British Cycling also took the opportunity to talk to a few of the riders starting with Ed Clancy, a rider who has already been described by an Olympic Champion as being one of the Worlds top Team Pursuit riders. Ed explained that his preparation for the event included two nine day training camps in Majorca which followed his team launch in Belgium. Ed, along with Paul Manning, rides for Landbouwkrediet - Colnago. Talking about his time in Majorca this year, he says "We were doing some top end stuff on the hills to help with the lactate tolerance a bit".
"I was going well in Moscow last year and knew if I was going that well for Manchester and the Worlds, things would be looking good. I think we have all come out of the Majorca training camps really well like, especially Paul, so we now have a good strong team of six riders we can pick from for the Worlds."
With press reports talking about times under 4 minutes, no-one in the team were willing to give anything away, although Ed was happy to admit "at Manchester, we're going to go fast!" From what I saw, those press reports may not be far off the mark.
Ed explained that prior to the race effort that day, they had only done a standing start 3k in the run up to Manchester which he says was pretty encouraging. On top of that, they have also been doing lots of race pace efforts and even above race pace efforts. "It is though different" he says throwing a little caution into the conversation, "to do a standing 4k and we'll have to do two of those on the day so we will just have to see how it goes.!"
Asked how it was to have an athlete like Brad Wiggins, sporting some scars above his eye from his training crash but still in buoyant mood with his impressions and jokes, in the Team Pursuit, Ed replied "He's good!". It's the first time I have ridden a Team Pursuit with Brad properly and he is just a massive engine who will make us go quick."
Geraint Thomas
Welsh rider and Silver medallist last year in the Track Worlds, Geraint Thomas has returned from Australia where he rode for his new pro team, Barloworld. "So far the year has been really good" he says. "I had some good training before the Tour Down Under and then worked really hard in the race, getting involved in the lead outs and that. I got in a break as well but ran out of legs but the team were happy."
Thomas leads Chris Newton in one of the sprint efforts they made on Tuesday in training.
"I then returned home for a week and was then out with the Barloworld team in a training camp where I met everyone and they all seem really good. Being a small team of only 17 or so riders, it helps to get to know everyone a little better. There are a few South Africans as well which helps as there's no language barrier like there is with the Italians."
Geraint says that having been part of the GB Academy in Italy helps in a team with strong Italian connections. He now knows a bit of the language and the culture and says he seems to have slotted into the team set up quite nicely."
Geraint admits he has come into the World Cup with very little track work, getting onto the track only a week before where he did a few easy sessions to find his track legs. "To an extent, yesterday (Monday) and today were probably the hardest I have done. I'm struggling a little getting on top of the gear at the top of end of things but that will come."
"I did feel quite comfy in the line though during the Team Pursuit efforts and even effort wise, I did feel strong so its all good. I have really looked forward to coming back to the track and meeting the lads again. With the pro team, I don't really know them that well yet so it has been nice to get back to your mates and the set up with Shane (Sutton) and Matt (Parker) is really relaxed."
Looking ahead to his key event at Manchester, - the Madison - he says he's done a few practice changes with his partner for the race Rob Hayles. I am really looking forward to the Madison. Back in January, I'd arranged with Simon (Jones) that I was going to work hard on the road and come back and ride the Madison and then try and get in the Team Pursuit for the Worlds. And riding with Rob will be good with his experience."
Geraint knows it won't be easy to break back into the Team Pursuit squad that he was part of for the Worlds last year when he won a Silver medal. "It is going to be hard with these four (Hayles, Wiggins, Manning and Clancy) going so well and they are looking to go under four minutes here, but I think I am capable of doing it and am going to give it a good go."
After the Track Worlds, Geraint will return to the road with Barloworld, doing a few stages races and we wish him lots of luck at Manchester and beyond.
Anna Blyth
Another of the young guns looking to make her mark in front of a home crowd will be Junior Womens Keirin Champion Anna Blyth. "I'm into a 'speedy' phase now doing less on the road and lighter gym sessions. Also, on the track, I'm doing shorter, quicker efforts on smaller gears and nicer wheels".
Anna will be doing lots of races, Sprint, Keirin, 500 and Team Sprint at her home World Cup. One event where she may well stand a good chance of a medal is the Womens Team Sprint where her and Shanaze Reade have already been producing some very World Class times. The young duo, juniors last year, have had three race efforts with the last one 'going pretty well' according to Anna. "Fingers crossed, we can replicate that on the day at the World Cup."
"I think my form is definitely coming through now. Fingers crossed, being my home track, I hope to be going better than I have in the other events like Moscow and Revolutions. I was nervous before Moscow but now I just want to get out there and race".
Chris Newton
One of the top Points race riders in the World is Chris Newton. Not only has he won the event in 2002, Chris has finished so close to a Worlds medal before, it proves beyond doubt he has what it takes to win the event again with that little bit of luck and special form that a riders needs to be the best in the World. Coming into the Manchester World Cup, Chris had a second place in LA only a few weeks ago, and is said to be in the form of his life.
At Manchester, Chris will be in his trade colours of Recycling.co.uk doing the Points and Scratch races. "LA was quiet relaxed and it was a good result." He says looking back at the last World Track Cup "I'm obviously disappointed not to have won but when I watched the video, I can see that after going for the second to last sprint and using all my gas that when the move last move went, I was too far back to do anything. I didn't lose it on the last sprint but the second to last sprint."
"I had done a lot of travelling up until then as well, Australia, Moscow, Majorca and to LA and by the time I got back to England I was head shot. But after some really hard work, its turned around and things are going really well. The form is there and I'd love to go even better. Shane said to me 'you have the form but that doesn't guarantee you a good ride so just relax.'. Which is a good approach to have, to have no pressure."
"The intention in LA was to qualify for the Worlds so I can relax now".
To prepare for what will be a very special event for the Oldham based rider, Chris explained that he did an endurance block between Christmas and New Year and then went off to Majorca. After that it was about doing strength and power work along with cadence. "I haven't done a lot of endurance although with the training being split days, the endurance has kind of taken care of it self." Now, with days to go before the big race, Chris is getting the speed work he needs to blast his rivals away with in the event he can rightly call his own. Good luck to him in Manchester.
Performance Manager Shane Sutton with a bruised but inform Bradley Wiggins.
The BBC were at the track doing interviews with the riders.
Former World Sprint Champion Victoria Pendleton with the hard working Jan van Eijden, consultant coach to the GB team and busy keeping the riders on their toes during the afternoon.
World and Olympic Kilometre champion goes through the numbers with Aussie Scott Gardner, the sprint squads sports scientist.
Craig MacLean and Chris Hoy show their standstill skills for the cameras of the BBC after a long training session.
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