Olympic cyclist Laura Kenny has her sights set on the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
The multi-champion at the prestigious event is keen to make more history and add to her impressive haul of five Olympic golds.
At an exclusive Q&A with the makers of her Olympic bike Lotus, the 29-year-old revealed she very much wants to be on the team in three years time, and will need to fend off competition from Britain’s younger cycling stars.
“I hope so, I mean I have to get selected,” she said.
“Everyone says this, ‘oh yeah you’re going’, but yeah, I would like to go to Paris.
“I’ve just got to hope the lot that my sister is coaching doesn’t come and outdo me.”
Kenny became Britain’s most successful female Olympian in Tokyo this past summer, with a gold in the Olympics’ first ever Madison event alongside Katie Archibald and a silver in the team pursuit.
The most successful female cyclist in Olympic history admitted she previously had thoughts of “retiring” as she recovers from injury, but remains focused on getting back on the track.
“It’s coming back a lot faster than I thought it was going to, because on the very first day I was like ‘I’m done, I’m retiring, I can’t imagine hurting myself ever again,' she added.
“But over the last week or so, I’ve really noticed that I’m getting fitter quite fast.”
Kenny is no stranger to injury after suffering a nasty eye injury and a broken shoulder in 2020, making her success in Tokyo this summer all the more remarkable.
Kenny also rode to Olympic glory this past on the fantastic Lotus/Hope bike, which boasts an innovative front end to the bike which Lotus and its partners on the project believe made a difference in competitions.
The design is based on optimising the aerodynamics of the bike and the rider; the position of the forks means they’re directly in front of the rider’s knees, helping air to flow around the rider.
The seat stays at the rear of the bike, also wider than usual, assisted with the reattachment of that air to create the best possible profile for the bike and rider together.
Lotus has also helped to develop two designs of lightweight handlebar, sprint and pursuit, which are integrated into the front end of each bike.
Titanium and aluminium, both 3D-printed, as well as carbon fibre, are at the heart of these components.
Archibald, who rode the bike when she stormed to victory in a phenomenal elimination race at the UCI champions League event in London this past weekend, was thrilled when she saw the uniquely wide fork design and how the Lotus name – with its successful history in track cycling – resonates with people.
Kenny explained the psychological benefits of riding a bike so unique to the rest of the field.
“For us, somebody new has made it, we weren't doing it with a bike brand already," she said.
"We would start from scratch and straight away people were thinking, ‘oh wow they’ve developed a bike’, people were getting headshot before they were even on the start line.”
