Team GB prepared to resist assault on their supremacy

With the heavy weight of expectation following the success of London and Beijing and the strongest rivals since Athens in 2004, Great Britain’s track team begin their campaign under intense pressure today (Thursday) at the Olympic velodrome in Rio.

Team GB are defending champions in seven of the 10 Olympic events: Laura Trott could win her third and fourth gold medals at the age of 24; Jason Kenny could win his sixth sprint gold medal and tie with Chris Hoy’s British record for the most golds; while Bradley Wiggins could become Britain’s most decorated Olympian with a seventh medal.

Trying to stop them will be Germany and France in the sprint events and Australia, New Zealand and USA in the endurance events, with the men’s team pursuit kicking off proceedings this evening.

“I don’t necessarily think we’re the underdogs, but I don’t think it’s ours to lose anymore, which it might have been a couple of years ago,” said Elinor Barker, 21, who makes her Olympic debut in the team pursuit tomorrow (Friday, August 12). “Other teams are catching up and going faster, or doing the same kind of speeds as us. It’s not that we’re getting slower, definitely not. It’s just that other people are getting into the same kind of territory now.”

Fellow GB team pursuit rider Joanna Rowsell Shand said: “Now that we haven’t been as dominant as we were before people realise how special it was [in 2012]. People forget that you win by the smallest margins, a couple of tenths of a second; really close battles.”

British Cycling technical director Andy Harrison, who replaced Shane Sutton as head honcho when the Australian resigned in the wake of allegations of sexism and discrimination in April, said the vibe in the British camp was good ahead of six days of competition.

“We had a good two weeks in Newport [before the Games]; the numbers look great, team morale looks great, and staff and riders are working really well together,” he told CW. “We’ve been on the Rio track every day [for 10 days]. The track looks good and the numbers look good, so I’m looking forward to it.”

Great Britain’s riders have already been seen in new skinsuits in Rio, while endurance riders have been training using Campagnolo disc wheels.

“You’ll see a lot of new things over the next couple of weeks and we’re hopeful that will make an impact,” Harrison added.