King: Promising signs for James
BySportsbeat
Published 03/10/2015 at 20:19 GMT
It may have been a long road back from illness and injury for Becky James but the Welsh cyclist is demonstrating there are promising signs ahead, according to Olympic champion Dani King.
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A double world champion in 2013, James has endured a miserable last 18 months with a succession of injuries to her knee and shoulder, not to mention a cancer scare, seeing cycling take a back seat.
However she is back in the saddle again and slowly working her way back to top fitness, with competitions in Germany, Portugal and France all being ticked off in the last few weeks.
Most recently, she was in Manchester last weekend for the British National Track Championships where she picked up silver in the sprint and keirin events.
And while close friend King may have now switched her attentions solely to the road, she made sure to keep a close eye on proceedings at the National Cycling Centre, and was left impressed with the results.
"I kept track of the National Track Championships last week and there were a number of good performances. Laura Trott had a few good days of racing with winning three golds and there was also Becky James," she said.
"She's coming back from a long lay-off but I thought there were some promising signs there.
"It's not been easy for her, when you are away from the sport it is hard mentally so it's been good to see her coming back.
"I'm really excited to watch how she gets on and what she achieves in the next year. You can see the improvements already and I don't doubt she'll be back to her best sooner rather than later.
"I will miss parts of the track, there are positive and negatives from both sides really.
"I'll miss the guys from the track but we all stay in contact with each other."
While a full season on the road lies in the way for King, she will however return briefly to the boards next month for Six Day London.
Featuring the world's best riders, it promises to be a packed programme of events at Lee Valley VeloPark from October 18-23 and King admits she can't wait to return to the scene of her London 2012 triumph.
"I am really looking forward to Six Day London, I think it will be a really exciting few days, especially with having women's racing throughout the event too,” she added.
"With being a track cyclist I had heard about six day racing but I had never heard of the UK having a Six Day competition.
"I thought it would be a nice event to go and watch. And then when I heard it was going to be held in London and that there was women's racing too I got in touch to see if I could ride.
"Every time I go to the Olympic velodrome it gives me Goosebumps. It's a big factor in why I wanted to compete in Six Day London, as it's just such a special place."
© Sportsbeat 2015
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