Around the bikes go at the Manchester velodrome, faster and faster, interrupted only by the occasional hooter. For once Jody Cundy is sitting in the stands, wearing a T-shirt despite the cold percolating in from the wind and sleet outside.
Beside his easygoing grin, Cundy is a sporting phenomenon who won three Paralympic and three world titles in the pool before switching disciplines to jump on a track bike. He has since collected five more Paralympic gold medals (in the C4/5 kilo and the mixed team sprint) and 20 world championship titles. Paris will, incredibly, be his eighth Paralympics.
