Double Olympic champion Laura Trott admits she can’t wait to go wheel-to-wheel with omnium rival Sarah Hammer once again at this week’s Track Cycling World Championships in Paris.
The pair have a rich competitive history racing against each other in the event, with Trott taking the honours back at London 2012 to take gold.
However, the American battled back to clinch the 2013 and 2014 world titles, with Trott coming second on both occasions.
And Trott, who successfully defended her European title last October before winning at the UCI Track Cycling World Cup in London in December, is expecting another tight battle this time around.
“I am pretty confident about the omnium,” Trott told British Cycling.
“I have loads of respect for Sarah, obviously she is an incredible rider and she keeps coming back.
“She didn’t win at London and bounced straight back in Minsk. She is incredible and obviously really driven by her weaknesses I guess.
“She has really worked on her 500m time trial and then she came back in Minsk and blew me away I guess.”
The Track Cycling World Championships get underway later on Wednesday at the National Velodrome Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines although the omnium competition does not begin until Friday.
The competition will be the first time Trott and Hammer have competed against each other since changes were introduced to the omnium.
Competitors now attempt to gain the most points, while a reshuffle of the six disciplines sees the points race as the final event.
Despite the modifications, Trott – who will open her Championships first up with the women’s team pursuit on Wednesday –insists she is feeling positive ahead of her meeting with Hammer.
“Obviously it’s different, but over the World Cups it has given me a lot of confidence in the new format,” she said.
“When it came out I wasn’t sure I was going to like it or not, because I always sort of relied on the 500 at the end.
“But now you don’t actually have to rely on any one race because with the points race at the end you can make the points up.
“Sarah is always strong in the individual pursuit but I’m quite strong in the sprint events and the elimination race so we could be quite equal going into the points race.”
© Sportsbeat 2015