Great Britain had their greatest day in Olympic history
since 1904 yesterday, and more could followed in the Velodrome with Ed Clancy (below) bidding
to take gold in the Omnimum and make it an astonishing 5 from 6 medals in the
Velodrome tonight.
With one day down, Clancy, bidding for a second gold medal
on home soil after winning the team pursuit, was in fourth place after three of
the six events, seven points behind French rider Bryan Coquard, an excellent result
considering that he was tackling some of his weaker events in no uncertain
terms – the highly tactical points and elimination races. Focusing on the team
pursuit this season, Clancy did not prepare for those events and finished 11th
in the points race after winning three sprints, so a fifth in the Elimination
race was a solid result and with today’s events – the 4,000m individual pursuit
and 1km time trial (he has never lost a kilo in the omnium) - in no uncertain
terms looking sure to suit him down to the ground he looks to have an outstanding
chance of gold.
Australia’s World Champion Glenn O’Shea – third to Dane
Lasse Norman Hansen and Clancy in the 4000m individual pursuit, flying lap and
elimination race - is sure to be the main threat and deserves a big amount of
respect, as he currently leads on a very strong looking 17 points. However he’s
now on Clancy’s home turf and Clancy’s fifth placed finish in the elimination means
that he’s a lot better placed going into day 2 than he was at the World Track
Championships in Melbourne –O’Shea had a lead of 6 points of over Bell and 8 on
Clancy after 3 rounds in Melbourne.
Lasse Norman Hasen – the bronze medallist at the World Championships
deserves major resect, as he’s currently in second place and is sure to excel
at the likes of the Pursuit and Sratch race – although an improvement from
Clancy makes him the most likely winner for us, with Zachary Bell further
behind than he’d like on 38 points – Elia Viviani might be a bigger danger.
Advice
3 pts Ed Clancy to win Men’s Omnium (15/8 Hills)
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