In January, we floated the idea that 2012 might become British cycling’s greatest year.
Eight weeks later, at the risk of sounding immodest, it’s looking like we might have been on to something. To recap:
January
Team Sky invite RoadCyclingUK and other members of the press to chat to Cavendish and Wiggins. Both men talk in measured terms of winning the biggest prizes in cycling. Ten weeks later, Wiggins has won Paris-Nice and beaten Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) in a race against the clock to win the final stage of the Volta ao Algarve. Cavendish has stage wins in the Tour of Qatar and the Tirreno-Adriatico, and victory in the Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne semi-classic. Business as usual for the Manx Missile. Different team, same outcome.
Endura Racing unveil their 2012 squad at the London Bike Show. Team manager, Brian Smith, insists his squad will not simply ‘make up the numbers‘ in Continental and domestic races. Fast forward one month and Jon Tiernan-Locke stands on the top step of the final podium of the Tour of the Mediterranean, having won two of its four stages. Seven days later, he claims overall victory at the Tour Du Haut-Var.
At the same launch event, Russell Downing tells RoadCyclingUK he intends to return to winning ways after two years at Team Sky spent largely riding in the service of others. March arrives, and Downing delivers back-to-back victories, home and abroad, with wins in the Eddie Soens Memorial Classic and the Grand Prix de la Ville de Lillers.
February
The world’s media focuses its attention on London’s new Olympic velodrome, where the final round of the UCI Track World Cup is being held at a meeting that doubles as the Olympic test event. The pre-meeting briefings from British Cycling are designed to lower expectation. Team GB’s household names talk of tapering for April’s world championships and the summer’s Games.
On the second day of the meeting, Victoria Pendleton and Jess Varnish take gold in the women’s team sprint with a new world record. Their feat is equaled by the women’s team pursuit squad. Over the following two days, Sir Chris Hoy adds a further two gold medals and a bronze to an astonishing world cup tally, Jo Rowsell wins a second gold medal with victory in the women’s individual pursuit, and the men’s team pursuit squad are genuinely disappointed with a silver medal won in a time that would have set a new world record had it been delivered in the last Olympic cycle. Laura Trott adds a bronze in the women’s omnium to a collection started with gold in the women’s team pursuit.
March
Wiggins’ victory in Paris-Nice has been discussed above. Mark Cavendish will line-up among the favourites for this Saturday’s Milan San-Remo. In January, he told us how meaningful a second victory in La Primevera would be in the rainbow stripes of world road race champion. It’s been quite a year so far, as we thought it might be. Can Cavendish continue British cycling’s incredible winning streak? We’d love to say we told you so.
