Kenny back to best after tricky return

Laura Kenny admits she has been surprised by how long it took to feel comfortable racing at the top level again.

The four-time Olympic champion has enjoyed a string of successes since returning in February following a year out for the birth of her first child.

She goes into this weekend’s round of the World Cup in London having already picked up four golds at the first two rounds in Milton, Canada and Berlin – winning in the team pursuit twice, the Omnium in Milton and the Madison in Berlin.

She says the difference between now and the European Championships in August, when she had golds in the team pursuit and elimination race but finished a disappointing fourth alongside Scotland’s Katie Archibald in the Madison, is clear.

“The Euros didn’t go how we thought, I guess,” she said.

“The level was at a completely different level to what I’d raced at before. In the elimination race, even though I won that I didn’t feel good in myself. I didn’t feel like the old Laura.

“More recently more and more that’s who I’ve been. The feeling when I get in a sprint now, I think, ‘Yeah, this is on’.

“I don’t feel scared any more. I know it was only a year but it did take me by surprise how I felt in a bunch. Now I feel back to my old self and relaxed.”