Team GB’s track cyclists begin their pursuit of medals on Monday on the Siberian pine of the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines velodrome, expecting that the Olympic debutant Emma Finucane will lead the charge for gold in the sprint events.
For the past four Olympic cycles, British track riders have largely dominated. From Beijing in 2008 through to Tokyo three years ago, the river of gold has mostly flowed freely. Success has become expected, although there have been signs of a slowdown in recent years.
Team GB go into this week of racing battling a hint of decline. Laura and Jason Kenny, winners of 12 gold medals during their careers, are now retired, and Katie Archibald, seen as their natural heir by some, is resting at home after a freak accident in her garden. Like Laura Kenny and Victoria Pendleton before her, Finucane is now poised to become the new golden girl of the track, which reflects the strength in depth of the British women’s sprint squad.
But there remains plenty of medal potential elsewhere. The now-retired Kenny has been bullish in her predictions, suggesting that eight gold medals should be the target for Team GB, a mark that would surpass the achievements of London 2012. That would require a series of breakthrough performances, but Kenny’s confidence may prove well founded.
The buildup to the track events has not been simple, with Archibald – an Olympic gold medallist from both Rio and Tokyo, slated to race in the omnium, madison and team pursuit – ruled out after tripping in her garden and breaking her leg. The Scottish rider would have been a cornerstone of the track campaign and her loss has been deeply felt.
But as one door closes, another opens, and Finucane is poised to step through it. The sprint disciplines, team and individual, now beckon, as does the keirin. The 21-year-old – although by her own admission, extremely nervous – has shown already that she possesses the temperament to rise to the biggest of occasions.
After a fallow period in women’s sprinting, Team GB now has a wealth of talent. In the team sprint, Finucane is backed up by Katy Marchant and Sophie Capewell. Successes in the world championships last year, allied to wins at the Nations Cup this year, make them strong gold‑medal contenders.
It is a different picture in British men’s sprinting, where Jason Kenny’s career casts a long shadow, even in retirement. But he will still be trackside, coaching the sprint team in the velodrome.
Jack Carlin, who won a silver and bronze medal in Tokyo, will have a big task, seeking to overthrow the powerhouse that is the Dutch sprinter Harrie Lavreysen in the individual sprint and keirin. Then, of course, there is the holy grail of track racing: the team pursuit title, targeted by Team GB’s endurance squad. The biggest character among the pursuiters is the maverick and innovative Dan Bigham, who after working as an adviser for Denmark in Tokyo, is back in the Team GB fold.
Even though this is his first Olympics for Team GB, Bigham’s influence on driving the team pursuiters forward should not be underestimated. If, after years of dominance, there has been a suggestion of slowdown on the part of the endurance squad that has allowed others to overhaul them, the 32-year-old refuses to accept it.
“You’re back towards sea level, there’s one year less and the financial situation worldwide – not least in the cycling industry – is not what it was, so I don’t believe the research and development factor will be quite so big as it was in the last cycle,” he said. “I don’t believe the jump will be quite so big.”
The two Ethans, Hayter and Vernon, plus Charlie Tanfield and Ollie Wood all competed in Tokyo. But a crash – coincidentally while racing against the Danish team – dashed their hopes. Bigham is expecting better this time, in track cycling’s prestige event. “I think a world record, there or thereabouts, is probably what it’s going to take to win [the team pursuit],” he said. “I’m very sure we’ve got the quartet to do that. We’re going fast. We’re all in a good place. Absolutely we can do it.”
The women’s endurance squad has sought to reboot itself after the loss of Archibald, with Elinor Barker, racing in her third Olympics, expected to step into the fray in the omnium and the madison, together with the past Olympian Neah Evans.
In the women’s team pursuit, there is reason for cautious optimism, after Great Britain became team pursuit world champions for the first time in nine years in Glasgow last year. In Archibald’s absence, however, the top step may prove to be beyond them.
