Laura back to work and Albie comes too
LAURA KENNY says she and husband Jason are “just like any other working family” after cycling’s golden couple were named in the GB squad for the UCI Track Cycling World Championships.
While six-time Olympic champion Jason returned to racing in January after mulling over whether to retire from the sport, Laura’s selection six months after the birth of their son Albie was more of a surprise.
The 25-year-old four-time Olympic champion has been back in training for about four months and the couple will take Albie with them to the event, which takes place in Apeldoorn, Holland, from February 28 to March 4.
“It’s very different and something we’ve obviously never done before,” said Laura.
“Having trained as a mum and dad we are getting used to it, getting into a routine, and getting a load of help at home from the grandparents.
“We’re just like any other working family.”
Laura has been named in the squad for the team pursuit, but must still earn selection as one of the four to race on the day.
This week she is training in Manchester while the rest of the squad are at a camp in Mallorca. “I’m THE SCOUT going there to get in that team,” said Laura, who admitted she has been shocked by how quickly her form had come back since she resumed training.
“Every time the team line up for a race we want to win and the Worlds will be no different, but I’m not putting too much pressure on myself in Apeldoorn,” she said.
“It is all made even sweeter by being on the track where I won my first elite world title too.”
Jason won the team sprint alongside Phil Hindes, Ryan Owens and Jack Carlin at the National Track Championships at the end of January, but suggested then it would be a “stretch” for him to make the squad for the World Championships. The Kennys are two of seven Olympic champions who will represent Britain at the event, with Hindes, Ed Clancy, Katie Archibald, Elinor Barker and Callum Skinner also selected in the squad. The squad includes a number of new faces. Ethan Hayter and Lauren Bate will make their World Championship debuts, as will Dan Bigham and Charlie Tanfield, who are not part of the British Cycling programme but have impressed greatly while riding for Team KGF, a trade track team based in Derby, during the World Cup season. The 21-year-old Tanfield said: “KGF and I couldn’t have asked for a better track season. “We have already achieved our goals that we have set so I would like to see how far I can take this at the World Championships and the Commonwealth Games, if I’m selected”. Archibald will be defending her Rainbow Jersey in the omnium, while Barker is the defending champion in the points race.
GB SQUAD – Men’s endurance: