Jamie Staff and Chris Hoy on the track. Photograph: Brandon Malone/Action Images

A day before Britain’s track cyclists take to the velodrome a top English Institute of Sport coach said that many of his charges in the cycling team have been pedalling faster than ever and pushing bigger weights than before in the run-up to the Games.

“Over the past few weeks athletes have been reaching personal bests in the gym as well as on the track in training which bodes well for Beijing,” said Mark Simpson, the EIS strength and conditioning coach, who works closely with those of the squad who need weight training.

Simpson added that among the biggest improvers in the last 12 months is Jamie Staff, the former BMX rider who holds the key position of starter in the team sprint, which opens the track racing tomorrow. In the three-man, three-lap time trial, the starter’s role is vital, as he has to take the trio from a standing start to a cruising speed of around 40mph.

“Jamie is an impressive athlete. At 35 and with 18 years or so of gym work behind him, you’d expect the gains he can make in the gym to plateau. However over the past year he’s made gains of around 10-15% increase in both strength and power!” said Simpson.

“The squad are extremely competitive and the Games have added to that this year. Jamie had a fantastic personal best at the World Championships earlier this year of 17.27 and like the rest of the squad has been peaking at the right time.”

About this articleCloseOlympics: British track cycling squad ‘peaking at right time’ This article was first published on guardian.co.uk on Thursday August 14 2008. It was last updated at 13:08 on August 14 2008.

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