By Les Clarke The first major meet since the 2008 Olympics, this year's world championships in...
Can the British overcome the post-Olympic malaise and recapture last year's dominance? (Image credit: John Pierce)
Brits definitely beatable
By Les Clarke
The first major meet since the 2008 Olympics, this year's world championships in Pruszkow, Poland, is a chance to gauge who is still suffering a post-Games hangover and which nations went back to work after Beijing.
Great Britain is still the team to beat, although there are some notable absences from its squad for these world titles; after its domination of the Olympics last year it comes as welcome news for those riders also making their way to Poland.
Sir Chris Hoy and Garmin-Slipstream pro Bradley Wiggins, who took five gold medals between them in Beijing, won't be making the trip. It certainly leaves the door wide open in both the men's sprint and endurance events.
Wiggins' Madison partner at the Beijing Games, Mark Cavendish, has been the talking point of these worlds thus far; thanks not just to his win in last weekend's Milano-Sanremo classic but for his surprise selection in the Great Britain squad after unequivocally announcing he wouldn't be riding the track after the Olympics.
"We're putting no pressure on him, but we're very excited to have him in the team," British Cycling's track performance manager, Heiko Salzwedel, told The Guardian. "We're keeping it very low key... He's doing no special preparation for the track, but coming straight from the road."
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