The tremendous performances of Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish in this year's Tour de France underlined the burgeoning strength of British cycling.
Wiggins' fourth place is the joint best Tour placing by a British rider, matching Robert Millar's 1984 effort, whilst Cavendish won an incredible six stages - including a quite stunning display of power on the prestigeous Champs Elysees sprint. These successes come on the back of last year's record Olympic medal haul, and bode well for the creation of a British Tour team in future years. Is it conceivable that there could be a British tour winner 'within five to ten years'? It is performance director Dave Brailsford's stated goal.
The success acheived by British cycling over the last two years shows what can be acheived when talented individuals are identified and given expert coaching within a clear structure, married to the technological exellence which is so important in a sport such as cycling. Other sports need to learn from this - too many don't have a logical structure or clear sense of priorities, whilst grass-roots and particularly school sport often shy away from technological innovation.
At Xoolon we feel we can make a difference here. As well as being a talent identification tool and coaching aid, our online 'sportal' provides a way of introducing technology into sport. For the current generation of children, using a computer is second nature and entering results online really helps to give them a sense of their own sporting achievements. The database of statistics can then be used not only in PE, but also, for example, in maths, or in food (to design a 'sports diet', say). We feel that schools really need to start embracing this brand of technological innovation.
If the value of technology, alongside top-notch coaching, begins to be more widely recognised at school level, perhaps we will begin to see more sports replicating British cycling's success.
As usual, please leave your thoughts. What do think of technology in sport? What can we learn from British cycling's success? Let us know!
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