Sir Chris Hoy believes that the strength in depth in British men’s sprinting is the “envy of the rest of the world” as a host of star names prepare to do battle at next weekend’s HSBC UK | National Track Championships.
Olympic champions Jason Kenny, Phil Hindes and Callum Skinner will all compete, with Kenny – who along with Hoy is Great Britain’s joint-most successful Olympian with six gold medals – stepping up his return to action after an extended break following his triple gold medal-winning exploits in Rio.
Also in contention for national titles will be Jack Carlin, Ryan Owens and Joe Truman, who have impressed on the international stage in the post-Rio absence of the Olympic team sprint champions.
The young trio has claimed world cup golds and a European silver medal in the 18 month which have followed the Rio Games, and were only narrowly edged out of a medal ride at the 2017 UCI Track World Championships in Hong Kong in April.
Hoy said: “This is an incredibly exciting time for sprinting in Britain. Ryan, Jack and Joe have made fantastic progress in the last 18 months, and with Jason, Callum and Phil back in the fold, our strength in depth is the envy of the rest of the world.
“Track Nationals is the start of a busy period, with the World Championships and Commonwealth Games following so soon afterwards, so it’ll be very interesting to see which riders are able to steal a march on everyone else early on in the year, and claim those national champion’s jerseys at the same time.”
Owens will defend his individual sprint title next weekend, while Kenny will be looking to add to the seven national titles he has won during his career.
Also in the hunt for sprint titles will be defending keirin champion Lewis Oliva.
Tickets for the HSBC UK | National Track Championships are available here.
