Preview: 2011 UCI Track World Cup Round 1
The Great Britain Cycling Team continue their Olympic qualification campaign on November 4 with the first round of the final Track World Cup Series before the Games.
Starting in Astana, Kazakhstan, before visiting Cali, Colombia; Beijing, China and concluding in London with the Olympic Test Event, the four races are critical for both Olympic qualification and producing evidence-based performances at the highest level.
And following seven gold medals at the recent European Championships, Kazakhstan is expected to further test the British team.
KAZAKSTAN SELECTION
Selected to ride in round one are sprinters Matt Crampton, Ross Edgar, Chris Hoy, Jason Kenny and Jason Queally. Ed Clancy and Dani King will only race the omnium and the women’s sprint squad includes Becky James and Jess Varnish.
Crampton, Clancy and King return fresh from five gold medal performances at the European Championships, while James and Edgar will make their first international appearances of the season.
Meanwhile, Hoy will hope to return to his British Championship-winning form, after a chest infection prematurely ended his European campaign.
INDIVIDUAL AIMS
Ed Clancy was twice successful at the European Championships as part of the victorious team pursuit combination, before going on to unexpectedly win the omnium. In Kazakhstan, Clancy will only contest the omnium, but despite his winning ride in Apeldoorn holds no expectation of a similar result at the World Cup – instead focussing on gaining a good amount of Olympic qualification points.
Dani King – part of the women’s European Championship winning team pursuit squad – will run the same schedule as Clancy, but competes in a World Cup omnium for the first time. Far from being daunted by the occasion, European and World team pursuit champion was in a buoyant mood.
“I’m really confident, I’ll go out and do what I did at the under-23 Europeans and take each event as it comes. I’ll just try and do my best at each event and the result will take care of itself and do it with a smile on my face!”
The first round of the UCI Track World Cup series will be contested from November 4-6 at the Sary-Arka Velodrome, Astana, Kazakhstan.
