Jason Kenny is primed to shine as he and his Great Britain teammates gear up to make their mark on this week's 2019 UCI Track Cycling World Championships.
Kenny, a three-time world champion, will be a part of the team sprint alongside Jack Carlin, Phil Hindes, Ryan Owens and Joe Truman at the BGZ Arena in Pruszkow, Poland, with the action getting under way on Wednesday.
In an event Kenny has never won gold in at the World Championships – he was part of the quartet that clinched silver last year in the Netherlands – the six-time Olympic gold medallist says that the British team are better prepared than in 2018 as they target the top of the podium.
“I’m looking forward to it; going well in training, feeling good and starting to get that buzz,” said Kenny.
“My form is a lot better compared with last year. Last year, I kind of just dropped in at the last minute and was relatively unprepared.
“Everyone’s well-drilled, knows their job. They’ve all come through the system and been here a long time.
“Everyone’s really professional because I think you need people you can depend on.”
The Great Britain sprint team fell short of expectations at the European Championships in Glasgow last August after they were knocked out in the first round by this year’s hosts Poland.
But Kenny has no doubts over the capabilities of the talented riders he will line up alongside.
“Mistakes happen all the time. It happened at the Europeans but you need people you can trust and in this system, now everyone’s at a level where you can trust them to do their job,” he said.
“Our goal should be to match our best. We’ve gone well this year – better than I thought we would, to be honest.
“I’ve gone better than I thought I was going to go personally and the team’s gone really well.
“If we can get back to where we were in Berlin when we were at our best, that was a really good time.
“If we can start with that and deliver that three times, that’ll put us in pretty good shape and hopefully, right at the sharp end.”
Kenny is a rider who admits himself he peaks in four-year cycles because of the Olympics and as a result, he is excited for what could come to pass in Poland.
“World Championships are big for any cyclist. Everybody knows about the rainbow jersey, so to have that is quite special,” said Kenny.
“It’s quite important for us. It’s a big peak for the year, so we’ll find out now how much of our hard work has paid off.
“It’s a great event and I think individually, they’re important and special.”
Sportsbeat 2019