Elinor Barker has praised the National Cycling Centre in Manchester as she turns her attention to round two of the Revolution Series this weekend.
Manchester will be treated to a scintillating display of British talent with riders including Sir Bradley Wiggins and Laura Trott, who experienced the gold rush alongside Barker in the European Track Championships.
The 21-year-old from Cardiff spoke to MM after winning gold in the women’s team pursuit at the competition in Grenchen, Switzerland.
The Commonwealth silver medallist said the National Cycling Centre is very important to the British team’s preparations ahead of Rio.
“Having the Manchester velodrome as a base makes a huge difference to us as cyclists.
“It means we can train together and see each other all the time which means we’re all close.
“Having the staff there means that’s everyone’s familiar with each other so you arrive at races knowing people very well, knowing how everyone operates and how the programme works.
“This is a massive benefit to us and makes the National Cycling Centre so important to us.”
Barker moved to the Manchester two years ago and says she has settled in well.
“I felt quite homesick for the first six months; Manchester is quite a big place in comparison to my hometown of Cardiff.
“I found it wasn’t particularly easy to navigate around so it was quite intimidating to start with but I love it now.
“I’ve really settled in and these days it feels a lot like home – I can’t say I prefer it to Cardiff but it’s definitely on a par!”
Manchester welcomes round two of the Revolution Series this weekend and will host round five and six, the finale of the Series, in January 2016.
Image courtesy of British Cycling via YouTube, with thanks.
