World championships start in Berlin with all eyes on Jason and Laura Kenny five months before Tokyo 2020
The final world championships before the Olympic Games is the point when reality, good or bad, hits home for Britain’s track cyclists, and the withdrawal of the governing body’s main sponsor HSBC the day before the event began is a bigger reality check than most. The pressure is always felt in the final major competition before the climax of the Olympic cycle – it has been that way all through British Cycling’s lottery‑funded glory years – but this week in Berlin it will be just that little bit more acute.
The Olympic runes will be acutely read as per usual, but the waters will be muddied because in the past four years the pool of nations competing at the highest level appears to have widened, times have plummeted in the two team pursuits, while from a British perspective the medal bankers such as the men’s and women’s team pursuit quartets have not been at their levels of previous years.
Written by William Fotheringham
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2020/feb/25/team-gb-cyclists-need-to-show-olympic-form-at-world-championships under the title “Team GB cyclists need to show Olympic form at world championships”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
