Brailsford basks in British success as Team GB have their mojo back

AT the Beijing Olympics, Dave Brailsford achieved his Magnum Opus, everything he touched turned to gold.

 MAN WITH A PLAN: Dave Brailsford says British Cycling has its mojo back

At a somewhat leaner World Championships seven months later, Great Britain garnered just two gold medals [five less than Beijing] and the pessimists wanted Brailsford on his bike.

Not a chance.

Brailsford took an ardent view last winter that experimentation and youth were to be the focal points with London 2012 already in the forefront British Cycling performance director's thinking.

But it was not that Great Britain did not perform well at the World Championships, the problem, which gave rise to the cynicism, was that the overpowering British machine had temporarily stalled.

All too often in the nation's recent sporting past has overwhelming success been abruptly followed by deflation and decline. The 2005 Ashes and the 2003 Rugby World Cup lend currency to that debate.

But Brailsford did not guffaw his way to Downing Street, three sheets to the wind, nor try his hand at a sport he was simply not cut out for.

And while he maintained a low profile last winter, on the eve of the weekend's season-opening UCI World Cup in Manchester, Brailsford had a spring in his step - an ominous sign for the rest of the world.

British riders claimed 15 podium spots at the Manchester Velodrome, ten of which were gold.

The message from British Cycling HQ is loud and clear: we're back, stronger, fitter, and faster than ever.

"It really felt like everyone was looking forward to this weekend. Before the nationals, everyone was hungry and wanting to get into it. It feels right to the riders like we've got our mojo back!" said Brailsford.

"Last winter was all about regrouping, experimenting, trying different things and younger riders out.

"It was important for us to come back here now at the start of this season and put down a few markers. We wanted to get the detail right, get the hunger back, and that's just there.

"We've got to try and develop the younger riders over the next 12 months and make sure that, two years out from Beijing, we've got a strong squad of athletes to choose from.

"The good thing is you've got that internal pressure. Every day is a competition in training here. I don't think many other nations have that level of competition in-house. It's very healthy."

Perhaps Great Britain's supremacy was best typified by Sir Chris Hoy, who was making his return to competitive action since damaging his hip in February.

Just as he did in Beijing, he collected three wins, and the manner in which he did is foreboding for all his rivals.

He seems even more dedicated, even hungrier and even faster than ever, and his gargantuan thighs seem even bigger than before.

"The sprinters are phenomenal. Chris Hoy's benchmark is set at a high level, which is crackers really, given the level he was already at," added Brailsford.

"They don't get arrogant or complacent. Chris Hoy is the best at that. All the little things that got him here in the first place, he still does them now, and everybody else watches that and goes, ‘blimey, if he's doing that, I need to do that'."

But if the sprinters were sublime, the pursuiters were celestial. The women's team pursuit broke the world record, the men, who made a last-minute change to bring in Andy Tennant for Ben Swift, had to settle for the second fastest time in history.

Yet both teams spoke of how they felt they were merely floating. Surely all doubt as to Brailsford's magic touch has been expunged.

It must be noted that Brailsford is not a one-man band. He surrounds himself with coaches of the highest calibre, such as Australian Shane Sutton while Barcelona 1992 Olympic champion Chris Boardman continues to push the technological boundaries.

But there is no doubt Brailsford is the architect.

"It's not just the winning," he added. "That's why the team pursuit lads kept going, they knew they'd catch Spain before the race started, but decided to go for the time and did a fantastic job.

"It's been a big weekend for us insofar as we wanted to show that we've got a lot more to give.

"All we can do for London now is stick to the process. That's what the rider and the coaches do, they stick to the process.

"It's important now to get those results to say you haven't seen the last of us because I think after Beijing we were accused of being a flash in the pan but we've proved we haven't been."

There was uncharacteristic bite in that final comment from a man so normally composed and it was quite possibly directed at the French, Great Britain's closest rivals on the boards.

While the Brits were regrouping in March, France were soothing their wound pride, ruled the roost when it came to sprinting and were not afraid to let Team GB know about it.

Alchemy is indeed a French word and some of its finest exponents were indeed French, but there's no doubting that, in Brailsford, Great Britain have a real gem.