Olympic track stars ready for national championships

A clutch of Olympic and world champion stars will be competing in the British Senior National Track Championships, which begin tomorrow at Manchester Velodrome.

Sir Chris Hoy, Victoria Pendleton, Jason Kenny, Geraint Thomas, Ed Clancy, Chris Newton and Lizzie Armitstead are among the big names looking to get their track seasons off to victorious starts.

The championships, which run from October 20 to October 24, will also act as an ideal opportunity to fine-tune before the Manchester round of the World Cup.

The best of Britain's burgeoning track talent will also be eager to pit themselves against the country's best. Double junior world champion Becky James is looking forward to potentially facing Pendleton, while young sprinters Matt Crampton and David Daniell will be keen to prove their worth against Olympic medal-winning peers Hoy, Kenny and Edgar.

Ben Swift and Andy Tennant, returning from strong seasons on the road, will be looking to take some prestigious scalps.

World championship team pursuit winners Wendy Houvenaghel and Joanna Rowsell go head to head for the individual pursuit crown, with Olympic champion Rebecca Romero conspicuous by her absence.

It could materialise that Romero's gold medal-winning ride in Beijing is her last ever competitive pursuit, after recent news that the event has been scratched from the London 2012 schedule.

Former skier Alain Baxter was due to make his track cycling debut in the sprint competitions, but the 35-year-old has been forced to withdraw, suffering an untimely bout of flu.

EVENT SCHEDULE

Tuesday, October 20

19:00

Kilo (final)

Women's 500m TT (final)

Wednesday, October 21

13:00

Scratch (qualifying)

Women's sprint (qualifying & quarter finals)

Women's pursuit (qualifying)

19:00

Scratch

Women's sprint (semi-finals & final)

Women's pursuit (final)

Thursday, October 22

11:00

Sprint (qualifying & quarter finals)

Pursuit (qualifying)

19:00

Sprint (semi-final & final)

Pursuit (final)

Friday October 23

14:00

40km points (qualifying)

Team sprint (qualifying)

Women's team sprint (qualifying)

19:00

40km points (final)

Team sprint (final)

Women's team sprint (final)

Saturday October 24

14:00

Keirin (qualifying)

Team pursuit (qualifying)

Women/junior madison (final)

U16 madison (final)

CWAD tandem event (final)

19:00

Keirin (semi-final & final)

Team pursuit (final)

Women's team pursuit (final)

Women's keirin (final)

Junior madison (final)