The world’s greatest cyclists will hit Melbourne’s Hisense Arena for the 2012 UCI Track Cycling World Championships from tomorrow in the hunt of coveted rainbow jersey’s and final qualification points for the London Olympics.

Headlined by Olympic, world and Commonwealth Games champion Anna Meares and reigning keirin champion Shane Perkins, the Australian Cyclones will be aiming to repeat the performances of the previous two world championships where they conquered European powerhouses for top honours, including a record medal haul of eight gold’s, including six in Olympic events at last year’s titles.

But if rival powerhouse Great Britain have anything to do with it, they will leave empty handed.

The British have also sent a full strength team down under and buoyed by seasoned campaigners four-time Olympic and ten-time world champion Sir Chris Hoy and reigning Olympic sprint champion Victoria Pendleton, the Brits are looking for the scalp of the Aussies on their home soil.

Cycling Australia’s high performance manager Kevin Tabotta wasn’t giving much away but was confident about their form heading into the championships.

“All this is just fine tuning now. The bulk of the training was completed seven to ten days ago so this is all just the final hit out, race preparation, making sure the equipment is set up correctly, making sure the technique is the best that it can be based on the track shape and all that is going really well,” Tabotta said from the final training session before competition gets underway tomorrow.

“Everyone is in good spirits, everyone is in good health other than a little bingle that Shane Perkins had earlier in the week but he is firing on all cylinders and I don’t think his injuries will be a concern at all.

“We don’t talk in terms of overall medals, what we talk about is each athlete performing to their absolute best or realising their potential,” Tabotta said from the final training session before competition gets underway tomorrow.

“On that front I can say that I believe a number of our athletes will be at their absolute best here at the championships and the results from them being at their best will depend on how well everyone else in the world is going.

“The group compared to past years, I am pretty confident they are in good shape to deliver their best.”

As difficult as it is to look past the much loved ‘Ashes’ battle, if Australia and Great Britain watch each other too closely there are a host of nations poised to ruin the party.

Riders from ten nations won gold in Apeldoorn last year, and they have arrived as strong as ever in Melbourne.  Riders from France, Russia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Germany, Canada, USA, Belarus, Malaysia, Colombia and Hong Kong to name a few will all have their eyes on a coveted rainbow jersey.

For five days, from Wednesday 4 to Sunday 8 April, the 2012 UCI Track Cycling World Championships will provide thrills, spills and pure adrenalin pumping action.

Day 1 Highlights- Wednesday 4 April: Men’s Team Pursuit

Tomorrow night kicks off with the most anticipated event during the five days in Melbourne - the men’s team pursuit. Meares said last week the event was worth the price of admission alone into the Hisense Arena.

Dubbed the ‘Boy Band’ by the British press, the average age of the Australian squad - Jack Bobridge, Rohan Dennis, Alex Edmondson, Michael Hepburn and Glenn O’Shea – will be 21 years, three months and a week when they race.

Bobridge, Dennis, Edmondson and Hepburn rode the third fastest time in history, 3 minutes 54.615 sec over 4000 metres, six weeks ago at the London UCI World Cup test event.  The British quartet – Steven Burke, Ed Clancy, Peter Kennaugh and Geraint Thomas -  was 1.7 seconds slower in London, but the squad rode under world record pace over 2750 metres in recent training.

The two teams have dominated this event over the past decade, with Australia winning six world titles, Great Britain three and Denmark once in 2009.

But the form of New Zealand and Russia this season will ensure a win by Australia and the British is not a given.

New Zealand have ridden sub four minutes this season but will miss their top rider Jesse Sergeant due to road duties.

Russia, under the tutelage of expert coach Heiko Salzwedel, won the Astana and Beijing World Cup rounds with sub four minute rides.

Tabotta is conscious of how little will separate top nations in the blue ribboned event.

“They have prepared very very well so we believe they will be right on the mark in qualifying and also hopefully beyond qualifying.  But there are other nations in similar condition  so there could a second separating three or four teams here,” Tabotta said.

“You have to be right on your game on the day and so that’s all we focus on right now but we are really pleased with their progress.”

Women’s Team Sprint

In the past five years in the women’s sprint, Great Britain have won two and Australia victors at the past three championships.

Meares and Kaarle McCulloch will aim to claim a fourth straight title and boost their chances to be inaugural Olympic winners in the event in August. But Britain’s Victoria Pendleton and Jess Varnish broke the Australians’ world record in posting 32.754 seconds over the 500 metres in London.

China’s Guo Shuang and Gong Jinjie, winners at the Beijing UCI World Cup and third in London, are within striking distance of Australia and Great Britain.

After fine tuning their start technique and making final selection of equipment at today’s training, Tabotta assures the Australian duos intentions are of the highest quality.

“I think that they will be very eager to put down a time tomorrow night that will set a world mark,” Tabotta said. 

“I think they will do Australia proud tomorrow night but what result that gives we don’t know.”

Men’s Team Sprint

In the men’s team sprint, Germany enter as dual defending champions and favourites following their blistering times this season.

Rene Enders, Robert Forstemann and Maximilian Levy set a new world record, 42.914 second over the 750 metres, in Cali, Colombia last December.

They continued their form in winning the London test event in February, ahead of France and hosts Great Britain.

France’s likely trio of Gregory Bauge, Mickael D’Almeida and Kevin Sireau will aim to win their first world title since 2009.

Reigning Olympic champions Great Britain, led by Sir Chris Hoy, are still deciding on their riding order and team, with Beijing champion Jamie Staff stating Jason Kenny should be riding first wheel.

The Australian’s have also turned their attention back to the men’s team sprint after a number of years absence.  Tabotta is hopeful that Perkins and his young teammates Scott Sunderland and Matthew Glaetzer can deliver under pressure.

“We have been outside the medals there for a few years, we would love to be able to sneak onto the podium here in Melbourne but again that relies on us getting it 100% correct tomorrow and I am as eager as anyone else to see whether they can deliver that but it is a work in progress,” Tabotta said.

“You are looking at a guy who is second year senior with Matthew Glaetzer.  He has been riding well all year and we are really pleased with his progress but this is a very big occasion for him.”

UCI