Great Britain's cycling team made a solid start in the opening round of the UCI Track Cycling World Cup in Guadalajara, Mexico. While not as dominant as in recent years, technical director Shane Sutton seemed basically pleased with a return of four medals from the three days of action, signalling out Jason Kenny for special praise with key contributions to two of the medals won. Despite inconsistent form since winning double Olympic Gold at London in 2012 (he also gained a gold and silver medal at the Beijing Olympics in 2008), last weekend saw something of a return to form for the modest Englishman and it seemed to provide a welcome boost to the rest of the team.
Kenny was part of the men's team sprint that took gold along with Philip Hindes and Callum Skinner, just edging out Germany by a matter of a few thousandths of a second in the final. He then returned later in the meeting to take individual silver in the men's individual sprint, as Australian Matthew Glaetzer took the main honours. It proved a fruitful competition for Glaetzer as he also took silver in the Keirin.
Britain's all conquering women's team pursuit quartet were again the stars of the show, demonstrating the depth to their squad by bringing in two newcomers for the event in Ciara Horne and Amy Roberts, to complement established members Laura Trott and Elinor Barker in clinching gold. Katie Archibald also featured in the squad in Mexico as the team had almost a five second advantage in the final over second placed Canada. Add to that the likes of Joanna Rowsell and Dani King who will also be fighting for places in the team again in future and the chances of Rio gold in 2016 look ever more promising. King, the three times world team pursuit champion, may be out of the equation for a short while though as she crashed last week while training in South Wales, and is currently recuperating after suffering five broken ribs and a collapsed lung. We wish her a full but speedy recovery from that.
GB's remaining medal was another silver in the men's team pursuit, as the quartet of Jon Dibben, Steven Burke, Mark Christian and Andy Tennant found the Australian team yet again just too good for them. The match-up between the two countries promises to be one of the highlights in Rio in two years' time, when GB will hope to incorporate the legendary figure of Sir Bradley Wiggins once more into the team, although the Aussies seem to have the edge at present.
There was a tinge of disappointment for GB in the women's team sprint, as the duo of Jess Varnish and Danni Khan could only manage ninth.
It is to be hoped that the injuries keeping Becky James (triple world champion last year) away from track competition are remedied soon to bolster the team's medal chances going forward, although Sutton may persevere with Khan even if James returns, if she can translate her apparent training form into performances when it matters.
He also has the option of bringing in Vicky Williamson, who partnered James to bronze in last year's World Championships, should he decide that she offers a better option.
The three race series that makes up the Track Cycling World Cup allows the countries involved to try out different combinations in the team events, hence some of the new faces that are given the chance to sample the big time atmosphere before the Olympics comes around again. So it would not be a surprise if the composition of the quartets (in particular) are altered for the remaining rounds at London's Lee Valley (December 5th - 7th) and Cali, Colombia in mid January, 2015. GB took the overall team prize last season over the three rounds, so Sutton will be keen to repeat that achievement once more if possible, although Rio will be the acid test of whether all of the preparations have gone to plan or not in this Olympic cycle.
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