Last weekend the British BMX team, headed by Olympic Coach Grant White, took to Cheddar and rounds 13/14 of the European Championship culminating in their best set of results yet. Luke Webber spent a busy two days in the pits and got the latest from a growing squad of young talent.

Team GB in the pits, enjoying some time between motos

When BMX became an Olympic sport in 2008 it attracted the attention of both the media and the Worlds greatest riders. A rush for points to qualify for the most prestigious race in the sports history consumed the minds of both specialists and riders who had left to race the fourcross World Cup - essentially justifying the hype around a sport which seemed to deviate from the traditional Olympic ideal.

But after the main event and the furore surrounding British favourite Shanaze Reade, the question for British Cycling was of the route from Beijing to London. A scheme similar to those already in place for track, road and mountain bike was needed to find riders who had the potential to win in four years time and at the same time support those already winning at an elite level.

Shanaze Reade - second left - gets quizzed over the 2012 World Championships and Olympics

The first step was to create the framework - namely a team of coaches who would guide young riders to success - and in February 2008 Grant White was drafted in as Olympic Coach to support National Team Manager Keith Reynolds, along with Talent Team Coach Jeremy Hayes - who in turn would be backed up by five regional coaches across the country.

   

This setup of staff created the foundation to build a solid BMX programme which would aim to produce high quality BMX athletes and although still in its early stages, the team formation is taking shape with five full-time riders living in Manchester, close to British Cycling headquarters.

The biggest name - Shanaze Reade - is one of those riders, but instead of racing at Cheddar she would be promoting the sport and talking to media about the success of the British bid to host the 2012 World Championships, to be held shortly before the London Games. A shoulder injury sustained in training means that Reade is out for several months, but already the vision of a team built around several riders is taking shape - essential when injuries and crashes are part of the sport.

Alongside Marcus Bloomfield, Reade heads up the Olympic Podium Programme -which is essentially the British Cycling team for full-time established professional riders. The next step down is the Olympic Academy which is designed for those moving into the professional scene. Liam Phillips, Dan Whyte and Luke Tamblyn are all part of this sub-division, again based in Manchester and receive more structured support from the coaching staff.

Underneath the Academy programme is the Olympic Development Programme which consists of riders still in full-time education. These riders - Abbie Taylor, Tre Whyte and Dan McBride - attend camps based in Manchester, and train alongside the Academy and Podium athletes during such camps. They also participate in the Talent Team activities throughout the year. The Talent Team is a regional programme comprised of a ten riders which have been fed through their individual regional coaches.

With this structure explained and in place it was time to hit the gate. The previous weekend all the riders had a team camp on the same track to prepare specifically for the races. This would serve the team not only in terms of knowledge, but also save every rider energy. With no need to repeatedly practice the there was more time to relax between motos and most importantly analyse video footage that is used extensively on race weekends.

   

That attention to detail resulted in two British riders making the main final on Sunday - something which hadn't happened in over ten years. And Liam Phillips' appearance in both Saturday and Sunday finals was even more special, as Grant explains.

"Liam hasn't raced much at all over the past ten months or so and this weekend represented a great return; two elite mains from two attempts and his first two of his career. Liam dislocated his shoulder at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and only returned to full training in January 2009. The past 4 - 5 months have been dedicated to strength development, and we knew that this wasn't going to allow for high level performance right here and now, but knew that this would allow for a higher performance level into the future."

This idea of steady progress over an extended period of time to achieve world class performances is something that the team ethic is built upon, as White further explains.

"We've been building some solid momentum, across all the programmes over the past six months or so and we certainly know that this momentum needs to continue to get us to where we want to end up. By keeping our heads down and working hard, across all levels of the programme, we could certainly be in a very healthy position in another twelve months. Things are tracking well at this time, but there's much more to do just yet."

This view to long term improvement is also echoed in Marcus Bloomfield's preparations - apparently he is already looking forward to the off season when more training can start.

But first those Elite riders - Liam Phillips and Bloomfield - must travel to the UCI World Championships in Australia. The biggest annual BMX competition, the Worlds will be the truest test of form since Beijing and a key marking point of White's progress.

   

And while the younger riders won't travel to Australia, there have already been some encouraging results at Cheddar with Abbie Taylor taking a double 15/16 agegroup win and Dan Whyte commanding the majority of the 17/24 class.

This weekend the whole squad travel to the European Championships with high hopes of bettering those results at the UEC event, with a continuation of the construction of a team ready to take on the World's best in a sport undergoing a great renaissance.