This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/dec/04/jo-rowsell-london-track-cycling-world-cup-great-britain
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Jo Rowsell: ‘I’ve got my work cut out to keep my place in the team’ | Jo Rowsell: ‘I’ve got my work cut out to keep my place in the team’ |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| When the World Cup begins on Friday morning at the London velodrome, it will be well over two years since that heady August when the Pringle was packed for the Olympics and the “London Roar”, but one thing has not changed: Britain’s women’s team pursuit squad remain the gold-medal bankers within the squad. | When the World Cup begins on Friday morning at the London velodrome, it will be well over two years since that heady August when the Pringle was packed for the Olympics and the “London Roar”, but one thing has not changed: Britain’s women’s team pursuit squad remain the gold-medal bankers within the squad. |
| Even so, Jo Rowsell, Laura Trott, Katie Archibald, Elinor Barker and Ciara Horne are not Great Britain’s only medal hopes on a packed first day’s racing. Trott starts the scratch race – making it likely she will miss at least one round of the team pursuit – while the men’s 4,000m quartet look to continue a decent run of form including the European title, and the team sprinters hope to build on victory in the opening World Cup round in Mexico. | Even so, Jo Rowsell, Laura Trott, Katie Archibald, Elinor Barker and Ciara Horne are not Great Britain’s only medal hopes on a packed first day’s racing. Trott starts the scratch race – making it likely she will miss at least one round of the team pursuit – while the men’s 4,000m quartet look to continue a decent run of form including the European title, and the team sprinters hope to build on victory in the opening World Cup round in Mexico. |
| The consistent excellence of Rowsell, Trott and company is astonishing even by the high standards set by the rest of the cycling team: they are current Olympic, world and European champions, undefeated at a major championship in the last four years, and they appear to have a unique ability to draft in new members such as Barker, Archibald and most recently Horne. | The consistent excellence of Rowsell, Trott and company is astonishing even by the high standards set by the rest of the cycling team: they are current Olympic, world and European champions, undefeated at a major championship in the last four years, and they appear to have a unique ability to draft in new members such as Barker, Archibald and most recently Horne. |
| This year Rowsell has branched out into the individual branch of the discipline, taking the Commonwealth title to go with the world crown she won in Cali in February. There is no individual race in London, but she hopes to defend her world title in Paris in three months’ time, depending on the schedule. Friday will be her 26th birthday, and it is a measure of the squad’s youth that she is the senior member, although she points out that new arrival Horne will bring the average up, being all of 25. | This year Rowsell has branched out into the individual branch of the discipline, taking the Commonwealth title to go with the world crown she won in Cali in February. There is no individual race in London, but she hopes to defend her world title in Paris in three months’ time, depending on the schedule. Friday will be her 26th birthday, and it is a measure of the squad’s youth that she is the senior member, although she points out that new arrival Horne will bring the average up, being all of 25. |
| As is so often the case with high-achieving track cyclists, she missed out on nomination for the BBC’s sports personality of the year – as did 2013’s standout track racer, Becky James – something she puts down to the fact that the track world championships are in February, so are long out of mind by the time the countdown to the award begins. | As is so often the case with high-achieving track cyclists, she missed out on nomination for the BBC’s sports personality of the year – as did 2013’s standout track racer, Becky James – something she puts down to the fact that the track world championships are in February, so are long out of mind by the time the countdown to the award begins. |
| The women’s team pursuit does not yet have the history of the men’s competition, but it is evolving fast, and in Rowsell’s view, the latest change, the move to four riders over 4,000m – the same as the men – is a massive step forwards in terms of equality. “Since I’ve been on the squad there have always been more men than women – before [2012] at the Olympics there was men’s team pursuit, women’s individual pursuit and points, [so] there were one or two women in the endurance squad. | The women’s team pursuit does not yet have the history of the men’s competition, but it is evolving fast, and in Rowsell’s view, the latest change, the move to four riders over 4,000m – the same as the men – is a massive step forwards in terms of equality. “Since I’ve been on the squad there have always been more men than women – before [2012] at the Olympics there was men’s team pursuit, women’s individual pursuit and points, [so] there were one or two women in the endurance squad. |
| “The team pursuit bolstered it, now we’ve got four and the two squads are equal, it’s never the men and the women. When there are more people, say [more] men’s team pursuiters, I wouldn’t say they get favoured but when you have more people working towards a medal you need more people to help them get that medal. [Now] you have two groups going towards the same thing. I would say there was no inequality.” | “The team pursuit bolstered it, now we’ve got four and the two squads are equal, it’s never the men and the women. When there are more people, say [more] men’s team pursuiters, I wouldn’t say they get favoured but when you have more people working towards a medal you need more people to help them get that medal. [Now] you have two groups going towards the same thing. I would say there was no inequality.” |
| Rowsell believes the introduction of the team pursuit from 2008 has also boosted the standard of women’s racing in bunched disciplines. “Every country that goes to the World Cup has to take three girls; it’s not just a case of putting your pursuit rider into the points and scratch race, they will all be competing to ride the individual events as well. That improves the standard … now it’s four or five, that means more [girls] training harder and competing on the world stage.” On that basis, she would like to see the team sprint, currently two women racing over two laps, to move to parity with the men as well on three and three. | |
| For the outsider, there is obvious interest in the direct comparison between the times men and women can achieve over the same distance, but Rowsell is more moved by the technical opportunities that parity offers. “If we’ve done not a good time and the men are all running slow as well … we can say the track is just slow. It’s useful on a practical level, as you can see how different people ride, and how they ride on different tracks. With three [riders] the lines you ride are completely different, with four it’s exactly the same so we just watch all the men’s teams if they are up before us and get a few pointers.” | For the outsider, there is obvious interest in the direct comparison between the times men and women can achieve over the same distance, but Rowsell is more moved by the technical opportunities that parity offers. “If we’ve done not a good time and the men are all running slow as well … we can say the track is just slow. It’s useful on a practical level, as you can see how different people ride, and how they ride on different tracks. With three [riders] the lines you ride are completely different, with four it’s exactly the same so we just watch all the men’s teams if they are up before us and get a few pointers.” |
| With Dani King due to focus on the road – once she has recovered from the effects of a severe training crash – the women’s squad is down to five, but competition remains intense, and that, believes the racer from Surrey, is the key to their constant success. “[It’s] really positive in terms of us beating the rest of the world, every day in training you’re being pushed by somebody. There’s never any, ‘I’ve got my place in the team I’ll have an easy day’, you’ve got to prove yourself to be in the team. But in terms of day to day training it’s not always nice because you have a bad day and it’s immediately obvious, and there is always someone else who is feeling good.” | With Dani King due to focus on the road – once she has recovered from the effects of a severe training crash – the women’s squad is down to five, but competition remains intense, and that, believes the racer from Surrey, is the key to their constant success. “[It’s] really positive in terms of us beating the rest of the world, every day in training you’re being pushed by somebody. There’s never any, ‘I’ve got my place in the team I’ll have an easy day’, you’ve got to prove yourself to be in the team. But in terms of day to day training it’s not always nice because you have a bad day and it’s immediately obvious, and there is always someone else who is feeling good.” |
| Rowsell agrees with other British track cyclists that the squad is not a comfortable place to be. “Everything is scrutinised, filmed, timed, power outputs recorded so there is no hiding at all which is no fun when you’re not going well. It’s great when you’re flying but if you’re not going well it’s horrible. But that’s why we’re successful. And because we’re successful, there are more girls wanting to join the squad. I’ve got my work cut out to keep my place in the team.” | Rowsell agrees with other British track cyclists that the squad is not a comfortable place to be. “Everything is scrutinised, filmed, timed, power outputs recorded so there is no hiding at all which is no fun when you’re not going well. It’s great when you’re flying but if you’re not going well it’s horrible. But that’s why we’re successful. And because we’re successful, there are more girls wanting to join the squad. I’ve got my work cut out to keep my place in the team.” |
| Five races not to miss | Five races not to miss |
| Women’s team pursuit | Women’s team pursuit |
| Friday evening | Friday evening |
| The blue riband of endurance racing is first up; Great Britain’s women come here as the undisputed world No1s for the last four years and will be expected to win handsomely although they have been pushed close on occasion by both Canada and Australia. With three rounds in the day newcomer Ciara Horne should get an outing alongside Elinor Barker, Laura Trott, Jo Rowsell and Katie Archibald. | The blue riband of endurance racing is first up; Great Britain’s women come here as the undisputed world No1s for the last four years and will be expected to win handsomely although they have been pushed close on occasion by both Canada and Australia. With three rounds in the day newcomer Ciara Horne should get an outing alongside Elinor Barker, Laura Trott, Jo Rowsell and Katie Archibald. |
| Men’s team sprint | Men’s team sprint |
| Friday evening | Friday evening |
| A massive test for Callum Skinner in front of a home crowd in Great Britain’s Man 3 slot that was the fiefdom of fellow Scot Sir Chris Hoy and which remains one of the big conundrums as the Rio run-in starts. Recently he has gelled well with the Olympic champions Philip Hindes and Jason Kenny – who misses Sunday’s match sprint as he has no need of qualifying points – but they face stiff competition from Germany, New Zealand and France. | A massive test for Callum Skinner in front of a home crowd in Great Britain’s Man 3 slot that was the fiefdom of fellow Scot Sir Chris Hoy and which remains one of the big conundrums as the Rio run-in starts. Recently he has gelled well with the Olympic champions Philip Hindes and Jason Kenny – who misses Sunday’s match sprint as he has no need of qualifying points – but they face stiff competition from Germany, New Zealand and France. |
| Women’s elimination race (omnium round 3) | Women’s elimination race (omnium round 3) |
| Saturday evening | Saturday evening |
| The omnium final is on Sunday, but this is Laura Trott’s personal party piece. In this discipline the last rider is eliminated every other lap until just two; it’s a test of courage, bike-handling skill and stamina at which the London 2012 champion excels. Not even Trott herself knows how she gets through the gaps, but it’s a great spectacle and she will get a raucous reception from the crowd. | The omnium final is on Sunday, but this is Laura Trott’s personal party piece. In this discipline the last rider is eliminated every other lap until just two; it’s a test of courage, bike-handling skill and stamina at which the London 2012 champion excels. Not even Trott herself knows how she gets through the gaps, but it’s a great spectacle and she will get a raucous reception from the crowd. |
| Men’s Madison | Men’s Madison |
| Saturday evening | Saturday evening |
| The two-man relay race is the Marmite of track racing. You either love it or you can’t work out what the fuss is all about. Whichever camp you belong in, it’s hard to deny the skill levels on show in a spectacular and demanding event where Great Britain field academy riders Oliver Wood and Chris Latham. It is no longer an Olympic event and who knows how long it will be on the world championship programme, so savour it while it’s still there. | The two-man relay race is the Marmite of track racing. You either love it or you can’t work out what the fuss is all about. Whichever camp you belong in, it’s hard to deny the skill levels on show in a spectacular and demanding event where Great Britain field academy riders Oliver Wood and Chris Latham. It is no longer an Olympic event and who knows how long it will be on the world championship programme, so savour it while it’s still there. |
| Women’s sprint finals | Women’s sprint finals |
| Saturday evening | Saturday evening |
| Great Britain’s Becky James is absent this winter with a long-term knee injury but her absence is made up for by the return of the great Anna Meares, Olympic champion here in 2012. Meares is not quite her old self after a spell on the sidelines and will face stiff competition from Germany’s triple world champion Kristina Vogel and China’s Guo Shuang, while Jess Varnish will look to step up in James’s absence. | Great Britain’s Becky James is absent this winter with a long-term knee injury but her absence is made up for by the return of the great Anna Meares, Olympic champion here in 2012. Meares is not quite her old self after a spell on the sidelines and will face stiff competition from Germany’s triple world champion Kristina Vogel and China’s Guo Shuang, while Jess Varnish will look to step up in James’s absence. |