The final score.........................

Cycling's Taff at the top

In the spotlight: The Team GB Olympic team prepare for Beijing By Peter Shuttleworth British success in an Olympics has never relied so much on pedal power. Almost half of Team GB's Olympic medalists in Beijing are cyclists, including five Olympic champions thus far. Bradley Wiggins, Rebecca Romero, Chris Hoy and the men's team sprint followed Nicole Cooke's early example by striking Olympic gold. That's not forgetting the world and Olympic records that have been smashed along the way. But as Team GB's cycling team in Beijing is drenched in plaudits, the power behind the throne is from a traditional cycling backwater. Victoria Pendleton is British cycling's glamour girl Wales is renowned for rugby union and male voice choirs, but the land of our fathers can now sing about its cycling achievements. The 'Taffia' in British Cycling's backroom team are responsible for GB's domination at this year's World Cycling Championships and their great haul in China. Brits won half of the 18 gold medals available at the worlds and it looks to get even better in Beijing. If they weren't already, Wiggins, Hoy, Pendleton et al are now household names. Six of British Cycling's 23-man support staff are (or say they are) from Wales - including the two big bosses who have both been hailed for their heroics in the background. BBC Sport is proud to present the Welsh dragons who breathed new fire into British cycling.... DAVID BRAILSFORD Position: Performance Director Born: 29 February, 1964 From: Ruthin He has been hailed as the genius powering British cycling's resurgence as a world force and as his MBE proves, such a view has royal assent. The former competitive cyclist in France has progressed through the ranks into British Cycling's top job. The sports science academic, also an MBA business graduate, has combined his sporting knowledge and business acumen to create a much-revered Olympic Programme that could transform Team GB to a squad that has the potential to return from Beijing draped in gold. SHANE SUTTON Position: Performance Manager Born: 22 March, 1958 From: New South Wales via South Wales The adopted Welshman struck gold in the team pursuit for his native Australia at the 1978 Commonwealth Games. Sutton went into coaching and was Welsh National Coach where he inspired a new generation of cyclists such as Geraint Thomas and Nicole Cooke as Cooke won Commonwealth Road Race gold in 2002 and Huw Pritchard sealed silver on the track. He left to coach the GB team after the Commonwealths in Manchester. The 51-year-old, who oversees Team GB's specialist coaches, is a typical non-nonsense Aussie motivator whose catch phrase is "speaking as a Welshman..." JULIAN WINN Position: Women's Road Race Manager Born: 23 September, 1972 From: Abergavenny Winn is Team GB's coaching new boy, who joined the Great Britain team after a short stint as Welsh National Coach, is the road race specialist in the backroom staff. He mentors Welsh hope Nicole Cooke and her colleagues. The 2002 British Road Race champion competed at two Commonwealth Games for Wales and raced for the ill-fated Linda McCartney Racing Team in the 1999 Giro d'Italia. MARTIN ASHFIELD Position: Mechanic Born: 24 November 1951 From: Newport The former Cwmcarn Paragon rider and Risca bike shop owner helps keep the entire British Cycling on the road or track. Ashfield is one of Team GB's team of expert mechanics that ensures the machines of the road racers, track cyclists and mountain bikers run smoothly. DOUG DAILEY Position: Logistics and Team Manager From: Ruthin Born: 24 June, 1944 The former Olympic rider from the 1972 Munich Games is the man who ensures all of British cycling's kit, scientific equipment, medical back-up and most importantly the athletes themselves all arrive safely in Beijing. Dailey, preparing for his third Olympics as logistics coordinator, is British cycling's fix-it man and organising guru. In order to make sure cycling's Team GB had everything it possibly required at the Olympics, Dailey started sending equipment to China as early as May to avoid any hiccups. TONY CARPENTER Position: Soigneur From: Cwmcarn Born: 29 July, 1951 The second Cwmcarn Paragon team member in Great Britain's cycling backroom team is the man that ensures the talent are fed and watered appropriately. The phrase 'you are what you eat' is never more poignant than in 21st Century professional sport and Carpenter ensures Team GB's rider have the right nutritional supplements to aid their Olympic challenge. Not only does he make sure that every rider is where he or she is supposed to be, the 57-year-old is the man to give the competitors a comforting massage after a hard day's work to ensure muscles recover quickly during a gruelling schedule. And not forgetting the Welsh riders... NICOLE COOKE Event: Women's road race From: Wick, Vale of Glamorgan Born: 13 April, 1983 Welsh cycling's taliswoman is a sporting phenomenon. The two-time World Cup winner has won tours in France and Germany but in 2003 Cooke was crowned champion of the prestigious Giro Donne in Italy, a race hailed as the women's equivalent of the Tour de France. The 2002 Commonwealth gold medallist and nine-time British road race champion became the first British woman ever to top the UCI world rankings after her World Cup victory in 2006. Cooke's only disappointment is finishing fifth on her Olympic debut at Athens 2004, but she more than made amends in Beijing with a stunning victory in awful conditions to start Team GB's surge up the Olympic medal table. Her motto of 'pain is temporary, glory is everlasting' has made Cooke the inspiration behind a new generation of Welsh cyclists. GERAINT THOMAS Event: Men's team pursuit From: Cardiff Born: 25 May, 1986 This young prodigy "does not know how good he is" according to the top brass at Team GB. The young junior world champion has not wasted any time showing his ability on the senior stage - two World Championship Team Pursuit gold medals are testament to that. After winning bronze in the points race at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, Thomas showed his versatility by moving off the track and onto the road as he became the youngest rider in the 2007 Tour de France. Thomas' Olympic debut was to help the renowned Team GB Team Pursuit four to a new world record. "Geraint keeps surpassing people's expectations," said former Olympic champ Chris Boardman, a man who is not one to throw compliments around.

New mountain biking venue in Essex confirmed for the London 2012 Games

Story courtesy of bikeradar.com

By Matthew Cole

Sebastian Coe, Chair of LOCOG today said; “It is testament to the hard work of everyone in involved that we have been able to confirm an alternative venue for the Mountain Biking competition only seven months after the venue change was announced (SHAUN CURRY/AFP/Getty Images)

The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) today confirmed that subject to final contract negotiations, the venue for the Mountain Biking events will be at Hadleigh Farm, Essex.

Approved by the International Cycling Union (UCI), British Cycling (BC), the International Olympic Committee, and the British Olympic Association, the alternative site has been chosen following the decision in January 2008 to move the competition away from The Weald Country Park in Essex after the UCI deemed it not challenging enough.

The Hadleigh Farm venue covers a 550 acre site situated close to the village of Hadleigh, nr Benfleet in Essex on land owned by the Salvation Army.

According to Games organisers there are two “major hill areas”, separated by a valley which will create the technical climbs for the course. 

Sebastian Coe, Chair of LOCOG today said, “It is testament to the hard work of everyone in involved that we have been able to confirm an alternative venue for the mountain biking competition only seven months after the venue change was announced. In Hadleigh Farm we have a world class venue for Games time with the potential for an excellent facility for elite and community use post Games.”

UCI president Pat McQuaid said that the UCI was "delighted" with the new venue, calling it spectator friendly and challenging. "Our technical experts believe it meets all the requirements of an Olympic mountain biking course with a range of elevations that will provide a challenging course for competitors.”

Not everyone was happy with the announcement that mountain biking would be confined to the east of the country, however. The Welsh Minister for Heritage, Alun Ffred Jones, commented, "I'm disappointed that London 2012 hasn't looked beyond Essex, one of England's flattest counties, for venues for the mountain biking events during the 2012 Games. Whilst this new course may meet the technical requirements for the competition, one thing we do have in Wales is plenty of mountains and some truly world-class mountain bike courses. This was an opportunity for LOCOG to show in a concrete way how serious they are about spreading the benefits of the 2012 Games beyond the south east of England. That opportunity has now been missed."

It is noteworthy that the Olympic mountain bike course in Beijing is not particularly hilly, although it is expected to be technically challenging. The initial version of the course had to be modified to make it so, otherwise some competitors threatened to race on cyclocross bikes.

There will now be a four month planning period on the Essex course layout and the temporary facilities required to host the event, with contractual agreements still to be secured between all parties.

Where it all happens ............................................http://www.dragondownhill.co.uk

PS Cycles now open at Bridge Street Abercarn ( about a mile north of the entrance to Cwmcarn Forest drive). Log on to http://www.pscycles.co.uk for great prices on   and   or phone them on 01495 246555.