THE five-day Olympic track cycling programme gets under way today and the talk is all of the British team. It might be tempting fate to predict what the gold medal count could be, but six is a figure that several have settled on – it would be a remarkable haul, but it is far from impossible.
As well as being blessed with a supremely gifted squad of athletes – a golden generation that includes Chris Hoy, Bradley Wiggins and Victoria Pendleton – the British team has left no detail neglected in their quest for dominance.
From new equipm
ent to diet – the consumption of vast quantities of cherry juice being one example – they are at the cutting edge of innovation.
At the Laoshan Velodrome tonight they will finally unveil kit – from bikes to clothing – that has been developed specifically with the Beijing Olympics in mind.
They are also bracing themselves for a run-in with the authorities, but have prepared for that, and will arrive with "photographic evidence" to prove that everything they use is legal – or has at least been passed as legal.
"The only thing that has limited us in the development of new equipment is the rules," says Chris Boardman, who heads up British Cycling's research and development team, comprised mainly of experts from outside the sport.
"On the equipment research and development front there is no one involved with cycling," explains Boardman, whose department is jokingly known as the "Secret Squirrel Club".
"There are 15 people who we work with on everything from clothing to handlebars. They come from Formula One and further afield – because preconceived ideas kill genuine innovation. So we bring people in from outside, and we've never had anything like we've got for Beijing."
The only limit, as he says, are the rules over bikes and design. But that creates a problem.
"The rules are rubbish," explains Boardman, "because they're not hard and fast. Virtually every bike in the Olympics will be illegal – but ours will be the most legal."
The intrigue will finally be over tonight, with the work of the Secret Squirrel Club on public display in the Laoshan Velodrome.
