Ben Swift (GB) in the men¹s omnium flying lap(Image credit: Gerry McManus)
Ben Swift on his omnium kilo ride(Image credit: Gerry McManus)
Ben Swift grits his teeth after he finished strongly in the omnium pursuit(Image credit: Gerry McManus)
Ben Swift celebrates winning the omnium scratch race(Image credit: Gerry McManus)
After a sterling performance on the final day of the omnium at the Track World Cup in London, Ben Swift is determined to push his way into the Great Britain team pursuit team. The Team Sky rider was left out of the squad on the eve of the London meet at the Olympic velodrome and penned in for the omnium, an event he has raced in the past.
The multi-day event proved to mixed affair for Swift. A niggling hamstring hampered his efforts on day one but he fought back to claim a win in the scratch race and finish 6th overall.
“The points race should have been one of my strongest disciplines. I really underperformed there, and quite badly. And the flying lap was also a disappointment because I was going quicker in training” he told Cyclingnews.
“Once I knew I was out of contention for the overall win I just wanted to win one race and the scratch race was the best opportunity to do that. The crowd was unbelievable.”
Although ending on that high Swift is still eyeing a place on the team pursuit, an event he has been on the fringes for in the past.
“The team pursuit is still the number one goal. The omnium is tailor made for Ed Clancy and he’s so consistent every time he rides it. He’s unbelievable. I’ll aim for the team pursuit at the Worlds and the Olympics.”
However, if the pursuit is not an option and the team offer an omnium slot Swift will still take it, aware that it provides a strong shot of a medal come London 2012.
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“I’ll do it because it’s another shot. I can definitely improve because my strongest event ended up being one of my worst here. I always tend to get stronger as the event goes on and I think it’s a case of getting my track legs back on.”
Swift will change trajectory now that his Track World Cup is over, pulling in his Team Sky kit in a number of races in Belgium over the coming fortnight. But this biggest road test this spring will come at the Giro d’Italia. Like teammate Geraint Thomas, he is passing over the Tour and focussing on the Olympics.
“I’m really looking forward to getting stuck into the Giro. It was my first grand Tour in 2009 and I’ve heard there’s not so many mountains this year, which will be nice.”
Daniel Benson was the Editor in Chief at Cyclingnews.com between 2008 and 2022. Based in the UK, he joined the Cyclingnews team in 2008 as the site's first UK-based Managing Editor. In that time, he reported on over a dozen editions of the Tour de France, several World Championships, the Tour Down Under, Spring Classics, and the London 2012 Olympic Games. With the help of the excellent editorial team, he ran the coverage on Cyclingnews and has interviewed leading figures in the sport including UCI Presidents and Tour de France winners.
