Bromsgrove Sport
Jess top of the world after record breaking heroics
1:26pm Tuesday 21st February 2012
BROMSGROVE track queen Jess Varnish admits even she was stunned to have broken a world record.
Varnish and Victoria Pendleton set a new benchmark for the women’s team sprint as they took gold at the UCI Track World Cup in London last Friday, kicking off an excellent weekend for Britain’s cyclists in the first event held at the new Olympic velodrome.
The 21-year-old Halesowen Cycling Club member, who set new personal bests for the standing lap in both qualifying and the final, said the standard of their performance was unexpected and has promised the duo can now only get faster.
She said: “We didn’t really expect a performance like that just yet.
“In terms of where we are with our training at the minute, we are nowhere near top form so to break the world record is really encouraging.
“Everything just came together.
“The World Cup is much smaller than the World Championships and the Olympics are that much bigger again.
“But it was the first event at the new velodrome in London so it’s nice to think we have laid down a marker.”
Varnish went on to have a pretty impressive weekend from a personal perspective, finishing fifth in the individual sprint and narrowly missing out on a place in the keirin final.
But the team sprint is her sole aim in Olympic year and last Friday’s performance will have gone a long way to cementing her spot as first lap rider.
Next up is the World Championships in Melbourne, where Varnish and Pendleton will resume their rivalry with Australian duo Anna Meares and Kaarle McCulloch, beaten finalists on Friday.
The Aussie pair actually suffered a double blow, having set a new world record themselves in qualifying for the gold medal race, only to have the British pair break it hours later.
Varnish added: “I think it’s certainly going to be a rivalry to watch.
“We expect them to come back strong in Melbourne and we have to be ready for that.
“At the minute all my training is geared towards the Olympic and peaking then.
“There is no time to take your foot off the gas and I’m certainly not intending to relax.”