Ready for Rio

How will Team GB fare on the track at this summer’s Olympics in Rio? Cycling commentator and organiser of the Six-day London track event David Harmon assesses their chances

t’s been a torrid time of late for British Cycling. The departure of technical director Shane Sutton in May was hardly ideal in the months leading up to the Olympics, yet track cycling remains one of Great Britain’s best hopes of striking gold in Rio.

After all, Team GB claimed an impressive seven gold medals on the track at London 2012, plus one silver and a bronze, and while performances failed to hit the same heights in the following years, the team got back to winning ways and topped the medals table at this year’s World Championships, again in London.

It was a timely return to form, even if several of the events that Britain dominated at the Worlds aren’t included in the Olympic track schedule – we’ll see no repeat of Cav and Wiggo’s thrilling victory in the madison, for example.

The reason is that the modern Olympic track cycling format has been streamlined in recent years to give nations outside of the traditional European cycling heartland a better chance of

Above: The World Championships in London earlier this year saw GB top the medal table – but can they repeat the feat at the upcoming Olympics? Right: Mark Cavendish gets his head down during the individual pursuit in the omnium – an event that will...