Tuesday 19 August 2008

Britain's cycling success - is it cricket?

Don't get me wrong, I'll never tire of hearing the national anthem at an Olympic venue, as the Union Flag begins its journey up into the heavens.

But that's five times God's Saved the Queen at the Laoshan velodrome so far and as I watched the Australian film crew trudge off disconsolately on Monday night, there was a small part of me (OK a very small part), which felt a little embarrassed.


Or should we bask in the glory of it all - in the knowledge that it can't last forever.

Denmark's team leader, Jesper Worre, was full of praise for his British counterparts, despite watching Bradley Wiggins and the crew thump his boys in the team pursuit.

But he did raise an interesting point, when I asked him if he had a problem with Britain's dominance on the track.

"No, that's what sport is all about," he told me, "But I do think it could be bad for track cycling if it gets worse than this. One or two medals each race could be bad. I think interest could fall.

"We have a World Cup in Copenhagen in two years time, and if one country is too dominant, it could decrease interest maybe."

Britain are the new Chelsea of the cycling world - with lottery cash in place of Russian roubles.

And again I stress that Worre wasn't moaning, only stating the facts, when he said: "In Denmark, we only have money to try to make success in the team pursuit. That went well, but we were still beaten by seven seconds. They are number one by far. The funding is too far ahead for almost all nations. I think nobody can match the funding."

It may not surprise you to know that Dave Brailsford, British Cycling's performance director, doesn't agree.

"It certainly doesn't get monotonous for me, I can tell you. It's a very British thing to worry are we winning too much. It doesn't fit into my vocabulary, I can tell you, and we'll keep on going. That's what I'm paid for, to win Olympic medals," he said.

And let's not lose sight of the main reason why Britain's cyclists are, in the words of Worre, "like animals on the track". Who else has got riders of the calibre of Chris Hoy and Bradley Wiggins, and the rest?

I'll be back there on Tuesday, hoping to hear that same anthem another three times, safe in the knowledge that interest in track cycling, in Britain at least, has never been higher.

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