IF GREAT Britain’s team pursuit cyclists do as expected, and bring home the gold medal, there will be celebrations in a small corner of Gloucestershire.

The tiny village of Doughton, near Tetbury, is home to Ed Clancy’s parents Kevin and Catherine and 10-year-old sister Beth.

The 23-year-old, born in Yorkshire and based in Manchester, is already a double world champion and is hotly tipped to stand on the top of the podium on August 18.

“That’s the plan,” said Clancy, who also has an elder brother, Alex.

 “Everything’s going well so far, and I can’t see why we can’t do it.

“We are the favourites, so let’s bring it on.”

Clancy teams up with Bradley Wiggins – who is chasing three golds in Beijing – Geraint Thomas and Paul Manning for the 4,000-metre event.

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He now rides for the Belgian-based Landbouwkrediet-Tönissteiner team and won the first stage of the 2005 Tour of Berlin, but it is in the velodrome with Wiggins, Thomas and Manning that he has had his biggest triumphs.

 “One of the key reasons for success is that off the bikes we are really good mates,” he said.

“Geraint is probably my best mate, and I’ve been living with Paul for the past two years in Belgium. He is like my big brother.

“We all get on really well and that’s a big reason for our success. We can sense when one of us is struggling and help them along. It’s all about looking after each other.”

That teamwork will be all important in Beijing, with several teams eager to knock the British off their perch.

“The Danes were second to us in the Worlds – they are group of young lads who are really coming good,” said Clancy of main rivals Michael Færk Christensen, Casper Jørgensen, Jens-Erik Madsen and Alex Rasmussen.

“The Aussies are the defending champions and I think they will step up the game and show us what they have got.”

Clancy started cycling seriously at 14 when he joined the Holme Valley Wheelers club in Huddersfield, but had always been keen on the sport.

 “As a kid I was always into mountain biking and always had a little motorbike and I am still into bikes now,” he said.

“I took up road racing as an extension of playing around on a mountain bike and straight away I picked it up pretty quickly and it went from there.

“British Cycling’s talent team got hold of me and it’s thanks to them that I’m here.

“It’s been hard work but they got me through the system and off I went.”

Now he is at the forefront of Great Britain’s hugely successful cycling team, and the likes of Wiggins, Chris Hoy and Victoria Pendleton have become household names because of the recent success.

“We have got a really good group of people in the team, and that’s why we have been so successful,” said Clancy.

“The guys at the top, Shane Sutton and Dave Brailsford, want the best for the riders.

 “There are no egos in the group, we are all good mates, and we get a good deal through lottery funding.

“People are taking notice of it and cycling is becoming a real sport which is a good thing.

“I think these Olympics will do us good as well. I know nothing is guaranteed, but I think we will get a good medal haul again. The odds are with us.”

Clancy has had experience of the velodrome in which he will go for gold, having ridden there in a World Cup event.

“It is a good facility, nice and air conditioned, which is a bonus for us,” he said.

“All velodromes are slightly different shapes, some have longer straights or tighter banking, and it affects how fast it is, especially for pursuiting.

“The Beijing one has longer straights and tight bankings, so it isn’t the fastest and the G-force can get to you over a few minutes

“You get squashed down into the bankings a fair bit as it is so tight, and at 62k an hour it can take its toll.”

o can Clancy and co live up to the hype and bring home the bacon?

“We are now in final phase of training – most of the hard work has been done,” he said.

“We have all been racing on the road so now we need to get our track legs again and get a feel for the pace again.

 “It’s oh so easy to set out too fast in the first couple of kilometres. We’ve seen teams blow to bits and the Olympic dream would be over.

“We have got to find our feet and find a nice pace that we can hang onto, but we all know each other well and we’ll make it come good.”

 Wiggins praises Tetbury gold hero Clancy

IN a city of nine million bicycles none are faster than Ed Clancy’s.

The 23-year old Tetbury cyclist helped strike yet another gold for Britain yesterday, as the men’s pursuit team shattered the world record with a time of three minutes, 53.314 seconds.

After Britain took bronze and silver at the last two Olympics, the quartet of Clancy, Geraint Thomas, Paul Manning and individual pursuit champion Bradley Wiggins arrived on the line with only one ambition.

Gold at the world championships in Manchester earlier this year underlined their intent.

And rivals Denmark simply never stood a chance as it soon become clear Britain were only in a race with their own world record.

They almost lapped the Danes in the dying stages and crossed the line to take Britain’s sixth cycling gold – and 12th of the Games – with a mammoth six-second advantage.

“We’re on top of the world and I don’t think anyone thought we’d go that fast,” said Clancy.

“This was about four years of work coming together in less than four minutes and the pressure was on for every single one of us in that line-up.

“To come away with the gold medal in a time like that in such a solid performance is what we hoped for – in fact, it’s better than what we hoped for because we didn’t think we’d go that fast. We’re over the moon, it doesn’t get much better.”

Clancy’s performance was praised by team-mate Wiggins, who himself now has two golds. He said:

“Ed is just a young kid and I think he’s a bit naïve as to what he has actually achieved here.

“I think him and Geraint will be going out for a few drinks tonight.

“They’re lively kids, but they keep us relaxed and they are great to be around. They’ve got so much talent, but you can’t tell them that too often – they’re pretty big-headed!”

Wiggins believes Clancy is the natural heir apparent to Britain’s star sprinter, Chris Hoy.

“He’s got a very big future – he’s a natural sprinter,” he said.

“When you consider how young he is, it’s a very exciting time for British cycling.”

Clancy believes the British cycling team should be the toast of Beijing after collecting a record number of medals in the velodrome.

“The British cycling team has got more gold medals that the rest of the country put together, I think, and we have a very good set-up,” he added.

 “We’ve got the best of everything – the best riders and the best coaches.

“It’s a very special moment and it’s going to take a while to sink in, but I can’t believe we did that time. We were hoping for a good time, but that was special.

“Brad (Wiggins) struggled to recover from his individual pursuit gold but me, Geraint and Paul had plenty in the tank when we did that world record, to be honest.”