Team pursuit Olympic gold medallist replaces Hoy in team sprint
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Edward Clancy (Great Britain) in action during the first day of omnium competition.(Image credit: Daniel Simms)
Andy Tennant leads Ed Clancy in training(Image credit: Daniel Simms)
Men's omnium podium (L-R): Bryan Coquard (France), 2nd; Lasse Norman Hansen (Denmark), 1st; Ed Clancy (Great Britain), 3rd(Image credit: AFP)
Circuit de Lorraine stage 3.(Image credit: Isabelle Duchesne)
Ed Clancy (Great Britain) salutes the crowd after setting a new world record(Image credit: Daniel Simms)
Ed Clancy may have won a gold medal for the team pursuit and a bronze in the omnium at the London Olympic Games but the dual-medal winner will enter new territory when he lines up for Great Britain in the team sprint at the next World Cup in Glasgow. Clancy told BBC Sport that stepping into Sir Chris Hoy's position was a daunting task.
"I'm starting everthing from scratch. Ian [Dyer] the coach is saying 'we are going to do flying 200, flying 150, or a rolling 250' and I was like 'I have no idea what that means'," Clancy explained to BBC Sport. "It's like a different language."
Clancy admits the pressure falls on his two team sprint compatriots Philip Hindes and Jason Kenny who are the defending Olympic champions but he wants to give it his all in an event that is very much an unknown quantity.
"I just don't want to let them down...I'm just a guy who hasn't done it before, ever. I just hope we do alright for those two. I've got nothing to lose if I do a terrible team sprint but those guys are the Olympic champions competing in the team sprint in front of their home crowd," he said.
"The big thing is trying to get on the wheel at the start, not so much the first quarter but the second and third quarter of the first lap. It's going to be quite interesting to see whether I can match those boys for acceleration when they get going," he told British Cycling.
Clancy also said he intends on riding the team sprint at the World Championships to be held in Belarus during the month of February 2013. The kilo however, is not confirmed but it's an event he would like to try out while having a bit of a break from the usual team pursuit.
"I think plan A is that the team sprint will go well in Glasgow and hopefully I'll ride the team sprint at the worlds as well as the kilo. [That's] just as a little sort of side project; a bit of a break from the team pursuit. I've nothing against it, I love riding team pursuit but sometimes a change is as good as a break, that's the idea behind it."
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