...long live, well, Sir Chris Hoy I guess.
On the weekend of the European Championships, it seems appropriate to reflect on the sweeping changes made to the sport in recent times. Since the last Olympics in 2008, when the Great Britain track team (I'm NOT calling it 'Team GB' - what a hateful phrase that is) ripped up the Beijing velodrome, the UCI have managed to completely take apart the sport, turning it into not only just a sprinter's game, but a restricted one even at that. This from a governing body who, according to the programme for the Manchester Track Worlds in 2008, '[their] commitment towards the promotion and development of Track cycling is a strategic priority'. Well it's a funny way to go about it, believe you me.
The story goes roughly like this. In a bid to give parity between men's and women's events at the Olympics (the men previously had 7 events to the women's 3) the UCI took their allocation of 10 events and split them 5 for each gender. So far, so fair, you might think. But in doing so, they have created a disparity between sprint and endurance cycling. Out goes the points race and the Madison - both enthralling tactical distance events, and (most contentiously) the Individual Pursuit (see feature below about this wonderful event). Many at this point cried anti-Great Britain foul (we'll come to that in a bit), given this country's record in particularly the IP, having won both sexes' disciplines with Bradley Wiggins and Rebecca Romero (and a bronze and silver too). This is not true, since in comes the Team Sprint, Team Pursuit and Keirin for women (all titles won by Britian in the last few years) and an Omnium event (a multi-event discipline introduced as a sop to the endurance riders) a version of which was won by Ed Clancy this year.
However, the UCI, according to some on the British team, dragged their feet in outlining the qualification process for 2012, and then by being reluctant to name the exact date of these Euros, giving rise to a potential conflict with the Commonwealth Games. Similar hesitancy was thrown at the Omnium event, with the exact format unknown even as of the 2010 Worlds. This could be interpreted as yet another attempt to destabilize what was becoming an almost mechanical British rout of the medal rostrum. All that was apparent that the version Clancy won was more sprint-friendly, and that the Olympic Omnium will take a more endurance, multi-day form. This weekend's competition should give a clear(er) picture of that. Let's be clear on this, governing bodies DO take action to try and break up repetitively dominant performances, the FIA on Ferrari in the last few years for instance, the raft of essentially anti-China rule changes in table tennis, the random draw, 5-frame format at the recent World Open snooker event.
Even more baffling decisions have been taken to affect the Olympic programme since, however, which are a clearer sign of breaking up the British dominance (and, to the same extent, the Australian stranglehold that has existed since 2009). The qualification format revealed that only one entrant (i.,e. one rider or team) per nation would be allowed to compete in any event. This only affects the Match Sprint and Keirin in reality since the team and bunch endurance events were always restricted at the championships anyway. In these events, however, the field is going to be greatly reduced. Added to this is a restriction on the number of riders from each contintent, to ensure a worldwide field. This, according to the qualification procedure, means that there will be only 8 contenders in the match sprint and keirin. Suddenly this is looking like a nonsense competition, a far cry from the 24-strong fields one is used to seeing. Victoria Pendleton makes the obvious but beautifully incisive analogy to athletics - like telling Asafa Powell he can't go to the Olympics alongside Usain Bolt. Now imagine the men's 100m going off as a straight final as well and you get a picture of just what a mess the whole thing has become. Apparently this is to remove the possibility of collusion, according to UCI President Pat McQuaid; well this could only happen in the Keirin, so a fairly redundant argument there. And apparently this rule introduces the sport to more nations, well with dramatically reduced fields across the board this hardly stacks up, does it?
Imposing the continental quota will thin down further what is already becoming a quality-deficient field. Based on the best riders from each country on the concluding World Rankings for 2009-10, the Men's Sprint would look like this.
Kevin Sireau (FRA) World #1
Shane Perkins (AUS) #2
Matt Crampton (GBR) #3
Maximillian Levy (GER) #5
Damian Zielinski (POL) #14
Travis Smith (CAN) #15
Azizulhasni Awang (MAL) #17
Lei Zhang (CHN) #19
I don't know whether the system is based on athletes individually, or whether athletes score points for their country, who then pick an athlete to represent them. This would be even worse; the qualifying nations and their rankings, and their corresponding best ranked rider together with his individual world ranking are all outlined below.
France (#1) - Sireau (#1)
Great Britain (#2) - Crampton (#3)
Australia (#3) - Perkins (#2)
Germany (#4) - Levy (#5)
Czech Republic (#5) - Denis Spicka (#18)
China (#8) - Zhang (#19)
Japan (#9) - Kazunari Watanabe (#32)
Canada (#12) - Smith (#15)
The powers that be have even decreed that Oceania get only one representative per event - which seems OK, given the relative size to Asia who get two, but remember that Australia and New Zealand are two of the bigger track nations and are well represented across the board, and Asia have very few riders who can compete at world level. It is simply astonishing that a rider even outside the top 10, let alone the top 30, could even potentially qualify for an 8-strong event. Even if they took the top 8 in the world - that would be exciting to watch, or the top 8 countries regardless of location, but to impose all these restrictions, forget it. Just forget it.
All this of course makes a mockery of the idea that the Olympics are the pinnacle of the sport. I'm not sure why this idea should be prevalent, since if participation is restricted by IOC athlete quotas, then surely the World Championships in the respective sport, where more athletes are given the chance to compete and in a wider range of events, then surely this should be the biggest event in that sport. Given the relative state of the Worlds and Olympics in track cycling, the prestige attached to the rainbow stripes awarded to the winner, and the chance to beat all of the best in the world to attain that winning status, and the full range of events then the Worlds are the hardest and best competition to win by a long, long way. Unfortunately, the exposure and funding that come with Olympic success are burning the sport at both ends of the candle. Fewer riders get that Olympic chance, mean that riders are turning their back on the track, hurting the sport at Worlds level too. An unqualified mess indeed.
Feature: Hot Pursuit
The men's 4km Individual Pursuit is one of the most historic, evocative and pure track cycling events. It is essentially a time trial at that distance, but head-to-head with an opponent starting from the opposite side of the track, so it is either the first rider to catch the other or the fastest to 4000m that wins. It is a hotbed of British success over the years, with a host of World and Olympic Champions, and the World Record is held by Chris Boardman at (the fantastically palindromic) 4:11.114 - a record unlikely to be challenged as it was set using the now banned 'Superman' position, which was a freakishly fast, if unwieldy, riding style. However, in the last few years, a raft of international (largely Anglophone) young talent has arisen and looked set to take the event to new levels. Indeed, the London 2012 4km IP should have been one of the entire Games' potential highlights. Alas, it looks set not to be. For interest, here is a rundown of the top 8 contenders that would have been.
Taylor Phinney (USA) - Reigning World Champion, having retained his title this year. Rode a 4:15.1 on his way to winning the 2009 Worlds.
Jesse Sargent (NZL) - Teammate of Phinney at Trek-Livestrong U23 this year, rode a 4:15.9 in the qualification round of the Worlds this year.
Hayden Roulston (NZL) - Olympic Silver medallist in Beijing, now a member of HTC-Columbia. Only had a brief spell as a pursuiter, rode 4:18 at the Worlds and Olympics in 2008.
Bradley Wiggins (GBR) - Twice Olympic Champion for the event, riding low 4:15 to set Olympic Records in successive Games. Set a PB of 4:15.036 in the first round of the Beijing Games.
Geraint Thomas (GBR) - Has a 4:15.015 to his name, and looked nailed on for a historic 4:13 clocking at the Manchester World Cup in 2009, when he stopped after catching his opponent Cornu in the final.
Jack Bobridge (AUS) - Rode a super fast 4:14.4 Australian record (bettering the time of the legendary Bradley McGee), the second fastest in history (effectively a standard position world record). Took a win on the road at ProTour level in the Eneco Tour this year.
Rohan Dennis (AUS) - Beaten by Bobridge in that record ride at the Australian championships, clocking a 4:15.7.
Dominique Cornu (BEL) - Former World U23 Time Trial Champion, another youngster with great potential, although his 4:17 clocking would struggle to get him into the medal rides. Astonishing when you consider Wiggins has won world titles with slower.
Great moments in pursuit - unashamedly Brit-centric.
