Britains track cyclists may go into the Tokyo Olympics as relative underdogs, but Londoner Ethan Hayter has warned they are primed to up the pace.
GB dominated the velodrome at the last Games by winning six of the 10 track golds on offer but have since fallen behind the pace.
But at last year’s World Championships, they ended up seventh in the medal table with just one gold and the men’s team pursuit, champions at the past three Olympics, finishing outside the medals.
Hayter and his British team-mates have been using a host of new kit from bikes to wheels to skinsuits in their preparation camp, and the 22-year-old is confident they can once more be a force to be reckoned with.
“I think for a lot of people we’re the underdogs,” he said. “And men’s team pursuit is really competitive now but we’re going to get a lot faster with all-new equipment.
“No one ever truly writes off British Cycling but, after the last Worlds in Berlin, we are the underdogs. The Danes were six seconds faster than us.”
Ed Clancy is bidding for a fourth straight Olympic gold in the team pursuit with Hayter making his Olympic debut in Tokyo.
And of riding alongside Clancy, Hayter said: “He’s been to three Olympics and won three team pursuits – he is in terms of the Olympics the best ever team pursuiter there’s ever been in the men’s. And he brings so much experience to the team.”
Tokyo 2020 Olympics: Awesome Images
Hayter has a second shot at Olympic glory during the Games in the Madison, in which he will compete with Matt Walls, plus he is a reserve for Walls in the omnium.
As for hopes in his second event, Hayter added: “In the past, we’ve been a bit off the pace in the last couple of Worlds. A bit of that is down to the way that we’re training for the team pursuit. I wasn’t really fit enough but we’ve come from a different approach this year and it’s working really well.”