Accepting that the advantages of top-level competition would outweigh the disadvantages of jet lag, those managing the Great Britain track team have decided to send a top level team to April’s world championships in Australia.
The confirmation reverses previous indications given by GB performance director Dave Brailsford that the big guns would not travel due to long distances to Australia.
The British team is preparing for the 2012 Olympic Games, which take place on home soil in London and are a major target. Brailsford previously felt that the world championships wasn’t the best way to hit peak form, but has now told the Telegraph that he has changed his mind.
“We just can’t give up any opportunities to race, the Olympics are getting too close,” he admitted. “There are just two World Cup meetings and the world championships in Melbourne left now. The clock is counting down very quickly.
“There is something about the process of pinning a number on your back in a major competition and going to the start line at a world championships, there is no substitute for that.”
The British team dominated the world championships prior to the 2008 Olympic Games, winning half of the eighteen gold medals on offer and breaking three world records. The display in Manchester confirmed that the team was on track and gave it a valuable psychological edge over its opponents. The team then went on to have an extremely successful Olympic Games, netting seven gold medals.
Since then other nations have appeared to close the gap, with Australian riders in particular looking like a big threat for London 2012. They took eight of nineteen gold medals in the 2011 worlds and will be competing on home soil in April. The team will be fired up to prove a point, but Brailsford believes that the British riders will benefit, no matter what happens.
“You have got to get used to it – you have got to go out into the velodrome on race day and go through the process. It’s the closest you will get in terms of preparing for the Olympics,” he said. “It’s a no-lose situation really. If it goes well we will have landed a few psychological blows on our main opponents and if it does not go so well in some events we still have some time to put it right…you can change a lot in three months. “
The world championships in Melbourne will be the final qualifying event prior to the Olympic Games. It will run between April 4th and 8th.