大象传媒

The British cycling team was out on the track this morning, the riders taking their last opportunity to tread the boards before the competition gets underway on Friday.

All seems well within the camp, Mark Cavendish has now flown in to join the team after his heroics in the Tour de France and everyone is upbeat after the success of Nicole Cooke on Sunday and Emma Pooley's silver medal in the time trial.

It was another memorable day up on the road course at Juyoungguan with Pooley in such fantastic form that it took an American called Armstrong to deny her the gold.

British Cycling recognised early on that the time trial course would and armed with a specially designed bike to take her neat 5ft 2ins frame, the 25-year-old attacked the climb and flew down the descent to book a place on the hot seat.

And there she remained until former World Champion Kristen Armstrong stopped the clock 24 seconds faster than Pooley to clinch the gold.

But what a day for the British rider who put in such a huge effort on Sunday to help team-mate Cooke win gold in the road race.

Now our attention turns to the velodrome and perhaps these early medals on the road have eased the pressure on the track team who are strong favourites to dominate proceedings over the next five days.

The pursuit team powered round the track this morning like a runaway train and look in great shape ahead of Sunday's qualifying round. Bradley Wiggins also looked relaxed and focussed and ready for his first-qualifying round tomorrow afternoon.

As well as the usual coaches and support staff in the British pen in the centre of the track, I could see psychiatrist Steve Peters talking to team members and offering support where needed.

Almost every member of the track team has mentioned the positive influence of Peters and he is recognised as a key part of the team's preparations.

He's been involved with British Cycling for almost seven years and is credited with helping some of the team's biggest names handle the pressure of competition.

His input is indicative of the team's approach - leave nothing to chance!

Let's hope we can start to reap the rewards when the track programme kicks off tomorrow.