Chris Hoy: On Top of the World

“The removal of the Kilo from Olympic competition is frustrating and illogical, but hopefully one day it will come back in.”

“I don’t think the UCI really understand their sport and have made some real public relations cock-ups over the last few years. Sadly riders across all disciplines of the sport seem to have a similar opinion”

“I think that the kilo will really suffer due to its exclusion from the Olympics and therefore there won’t be the same number of top riders targeting it and sadly I think that until it is reinstated to the Olympics the standards may drop off quite a lot. After my record attempt I don’t plan to ride the kilo competitively again.”

“It’s a real shame as I love the event, but our funding is reliant on Olympic success, so I have to target those events that are in the Games.”

Consequently on Saturday May the 12^th 2007 he shall be retiring from the Kilometre TT, but like any World Champion Chris wants to sign off in style by breaking the World Record for the Kilo.

Chris already holds the World Record time of 1m 00.711s which he set on his way to Olympic Gold in Athens in 2004. However in 2001 France’s Arnaud Tournant set the outright record of 58.875s at La Paz Velodrome in Bolivia.

Sitting at 12,001 feet above sea level, La Paz velodrome is the highest velodrome in the world and consequently is the ideal location for the record to be broken.

“With La Paz being so high there is less oxygen and therefore your body has to work harder for the same relative effort at sea-level.”

“On the flip-side, the thinner air means less air resistance so you travel faster for the same effort. For short ‘anaerobic’ events where oxygen consumption isn’t a limiting factor it is much quicker to ride at altitude, however, after the effort the body is in huge oxygen debt and therefore the aftermath can be quite unpleasant!”

Obviously coordinating such a record attempt requires a high level of organisation. Bolivia however is not the most accessible city in the world so the logistics of assembling all the equipment and a team of support staff and officials from all over the world has proved difficult.

However with Chris’ father David managing the event the framework is now in place for the record attempt to go ahead.

“My family are fully behind me and try to come along to all the major events I ride, within reason!”

“It’s great to know you have your family cheering you on, and they are not only there to celebrate when things go well, but also to console me when they don’t.”

After competing at the World Championships in Mallorca, unlike his teammates who will be heading for the beach enjoying a couple of beers, Chris will be back training for his final Kilometre Time Trial.

“My training plan really depends on working on a specific component of the event I’m targeting. For example, for kilo training it could be starts, speedwork (with or without the motorbike for pacing), lactic acid production / tolerance or something involving technical work.”

“Road work tends to be either simple recovery rides at an easy pace, typically lasting an hour, or harder rides to develop aerobic capacity usually over two hours; either on flat roads at a high cadence or in the hills grinding away.”

“Whereas if I’m in the Gym; training is mainly focussed on heavy squatting; developing maximal strength through low repetitions and high loads.”

Towards the end of April Chris will then fly to Fort Lauderdale for the final taper phase of the effort. Miami is in the same time zone as La Paz and the track at Brian Picolo Park is the same configuration as Alto Irpavi being 333m, concrete surfaced and outdoors.

The coaching setup at British Cycling is one of the main reasons Chris has been able to realise his potential in the sport.

“I’ve been really lucky that I’ve always had people to train with who were better than me and gave me something to aspire to. Craig Maclean and Jason Queally have been great training partners over the years and we’ve learned so much from each other.”

“Things like lottery funding and the Manchester Velodrome have been really important in my career, plus my family’s support. Also, I think having the right attitude and determination has allowed me to get through the lows as well as the highs and kept me motivated for success.”

The incredibly high standards that the management of British Cycling possess; has led to the addition of German Sprint Superstar Jan van Eijden to the coaching setup.

“Jan has slotted straight into the team with great ease; his experience and temperament make him an excellent coach. I’ve done some tactical work on the track with him ‘one-on-one’, which has already had a really positive impact on my sprint and keirin performances”

“I really believe we have the best coaching setup in the world, with Jan, Iain Dyer and Scott Gardner covering all the bases the riders really don’t have any excuses now!”

If Chris is successful on Saturday 12th, he will attempt, on Sunday 13th, to set a new mark for the Flying 500m TT, set by Arnaud Duble , France, (25.850secs) and the Flying 200m TT ( 9.772secs) recently set in Moscow by Chris' arch rival, Theo Bos. To break three records in one weekend is a big ask, but Chris has shown he has the ability and the drive to hit the toughest of targets.

This sentiment is clear to see when I asked Chris what advice he would give any youngster who wants to follow in his footsteps.

“Contact British Cycling, find your nearest track and coach and get stuck in! Believe in yourself and don’t give up when it gets tough, because you can be sure that at some point it will.”

So don’t be surprised to see Chris dominate another event in the way in which he has mastered the Kilo throughout his career. Already we have seen a formidable performance in the Manchester World Cup when Chris outclassed his rivals to easily win the JKA International Keirin and take home the £10,000 prize fund.

Hoy’s dedication to improving his cycling is clear to see when he spent the summer of 2005 in Japan at the Kokusai Keirin (International Keirin) where he raced with the finest Keirin riders in the world in attempt to improve his chances in this discipline.

“It’s hard to summarise the Japanese experience as it was such a massive thing. Basically, it involves you going to the Keirin School high in the mountains (karate kid style!) and spending 3 weeks learning about the ins and outs of the racing, and doing training races to prepare you for the different style of riding.”

“So much money is bet on each race that they need to know that you fully appreciate the implications of your actions whilst riding. Keirin generates £7.5billion every year! I learned a huge deal when I was out there and also from the other international riders too.”

There is a possibility that the Revolution Series will see Chris ride a kilometre time trial once again However not in the usual format.

During the fourth season of the Revolution Series the Madison 1km TT was a popular event in which riders teamed up to try and set the fastest time over the distance.

Despite the Madison being an event for endurance riders, the short 1km distance lead to a few sprinters taking up the challenge, such as the Dutch pairing of Teun Mulder and Tim Veldt and Anglo-French duo Craig Maclean and Arnaud Tournant

Maclean and Tournant hold the current record of 55.164s, and Chris considers this time to be beatable.

“I think I’d need some hand sling practice first! But I reckon with technical practice its definitely possible to do a 54 sec kilo with two world class sprinters.”

So make sure you attend Revolution Series five for the possibility of a mouth-watering battle for the Madison 1km TT record.

As you all know Chris is an Commonwealth, Olympic and five times World Champion, winning the Kilo three times (2002, 2004, 2006) and the Team Sprint twice (2002 and 2005) but considers his first individual titles, at the Commonwealth Games in 2002 and a few weeks later at the World Championships, to be the most memorable.

“Even though all wins are special, the first ones are memorable because until that point you don’t know if its possible or not, but there is no question that Athens was my most memorable ride and means the most to me, as being Olympic Champion is what all riders strive for, above anything else.”

Before Chris got into Track Cycling, he was one of the best junior BMX riders in the world, and with the current Junior World Champion Shanaze Reade recently crossing disciplines, what does Chris consider to be the main reason for this and the similarities between the two disciplines?

“BMX is a great sport which really helps to develop not only skill but sprinting ability. There are a lot of parallels between the two facets of the sport, in terms of physiological and psychological abilities. So it’s clear to see why riders such as Shanaze and Jamie Staff can easily cross over and be successful in both disciplines”

“However, I have no idea whether I would have been as successful in BMX if I had kept going. I think I had lost some of my enthusiasm for the sport in my early teens and fancied a change.”

Not many people are aware of the fact that Hoy also rowed for Scotland and won the Silver medal in the Junior Coxless Pairs National Championships, but what made him choose cycling over Rowing?

“I preferred the fact that I got out what I put into cycling and wasn’t reliant on other people for success. I loved rowing but it wasn’t possible to continue doing both.”

Whilst not cycling Chris tries to keep off his feet and do as little as possible to recover from training/competition.

“I do the usual boring stuff; watch tv, read books, listen to music etc, but in the off season I try to fit all my socialising in with friends who live outside of Manchester and catch up on a ‘normal’ life!”

On that note I thank Chris for his time and let him get back to his tough training schedule, wishing him best of luck in attaining his goals for 2007.

Ever wondered what a Commonwealth, World and Olympic Champion listens to before a major event?

“Whilst on the Rollers I listen to a variety of stuff to get me psyched up such as Chemical Brothers, Foo Fighters, Public Enemy, The Prodigy etc…”

Now you know!