Great Britain Cycling Team technical director Shane Sutton looks back on a golden month for our track cycling stars.
What a month March was!
We knew that the 2016 UCI Track Cycling World Championships would be a special event – it’s always an incredible atmosphere whenever we go to the Lee Valley VeloPark – but the return to London was something else.
We topped the medal table thanks to some stunning rides. Laura Trott was very impressive as she claimed two gold medals – ending a run of silvers in the omnium and timing her finish to win the scratch title.
Jason Kenny showed his London 2012 form to win the sprint with a dominant performance from start-to-finish.
Jon Dibben earned his first world title in the points race with a brilliant and controlled late charge – always a great moment to see a rider win rainbow stripes for the first time.
Finally, we closed the championships with the Madison – and Sir Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish teaming up once again, finishing the week with a sensational gold medal.
I don’t think I’ve ever heard noise like it at a cycling event before. 50,000 fans across five days cheering for both the British and international riders. Your support makes such a difference to all of us, so on behalf of all the team, thank you for making it a week we will never forget.
From gold medal winning performances in London, to more success on the track in Italy. Our para-cycling squad won eighteen medals at the UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships in Montichiari.
Jody Cundy and Dame Sarah Storey continued their impressive records of never being beaten at a world championships in the kilo and the individual pursuit respectively as they extended their dominant run.
Megan Giglia became a world champion for the first time – and then the second time – with two brilliant rides in the individual pursuit and the time trial.
Kadeena Cox and Louis Rolfe also both won their first world titles and set world records – Kadeena going fastest to win the C4 time trial and Louis joining Jody Cundy and Jon Allan Butterworth to claim team sprint gold.
Finally, the tandem pairing of Neil Fachie and Pete Mitchell dominated the kilo and sprint to retain both sets of rainbow jerseys.
The performances in London and Italy are so encouraging with challenges in Rio to come later this year.
The team is in good shape ahead of the Olympics and Paralympics – but this is where the hard work really starts to make sure we can celebrate in Brazil this summer.
Attention now turns to the road and the dirt. We had a couple of impressive results in the junior and under-23 UCI Nations’ Cup events last week with some of the younger members of the squad on the Rider Route gaining some great international experience.
This year’s UCI BMX Supercross World Cup is also now underway and Kyle Evans and Tre White both made the quarter-finals in the opening round in Argentina on a trip that also took in the Rio test track.
Next up for the BMX squad is the home round in Manchester on 9-10 April – with defending world cup champion Liam Phillips back in action.
Shane
