Dame Sarah Storey takes UCI to task for lack of progress in para-cycling

Dame Sarah Storey reflected on a special year before taking the UCI to task for a lack of progress in para-cycling.

Storey won four gold medals at London 2012 to draw level with former wheelchair racer Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson on 11 golds before giving birth to daughter Louisa in 2013.

The 39-year-old swimmer-turned-cyclist returned to racing and won three gold medals at September's Rio Paralympics, taking her tally to 14.

Tokyo 2020 and Mike Kenny's British record tally of 16 golds will be the next major target for Storey, but first she is taking her time, for once.

Storey told Press Association Sport: "It's amazing. I was in better shape in Rio than I was in London.

"It's a testament to the work we've put in as a family, the support I've got from (husband) Barney and our parents and Louisa's adaptability.

"She talks about 'today can we do one of those things where we go and get a Tom?'"

A Tom was the mascot which accompanied the presentation of the medals on the podium at Rio 2016 and three-year-old Louisa became accustomed to receiving one.

Storey added: "It's hard to believe we've only been home a couple of months, but that's why I have this sense of calm that I don't have to rush into making plans."

While Storey is in no rush on the bike at present, she is working with the UCI, cycling's world governing body, to make progress in para-cycling.

Para is short for parallel, but Storey does not believe the discipline is being treated equally at present and wants Brian Cookson to revisit his manifesto promises made prior to his election as UCI president in September 2013.

"Without a doubt, I think we're being treated like a different discipline at the moment," said Storey, who is the athletes' representative on the UCI's para-cycling commission.

"They've made progress in all the disciplines and progress in para-cycling is quite slow."

Storey is voicing her concerns not for herself, but for others who are restricted to para-cycling competition, usually due to their impairments.

She races on road and track with her able-bodied counterparts. And she will race for the first time since Rio this weekend with her Podium Ambition squad in the Revolution Series in Manchester.

The UCI in October announced 15 World Championships across seven disciplines until 2020, but none of these were Para-cycling Track World Championships.

There is speculation, though, that one may be staged early in 2017, presenting a problem to the riders who have taken extended breaks post-Rio.

"It's a little bit up in the air," added Storey, who was born without a functioning left hand.

"There are rumours of a Para-cycling Track World Championships, potentially end of February, early March.

"I'm really disappointed in the UCI for not making that public.

"Very few people have had the opportunity to get back into training for a decent length of time.

"The most disappointing part about the post-Games position is that we have such a lack of clarity and I don't feel we've progressed particularly well with the organisation of our championships."

Storey says she requested para-cycling was integrated in the Track World Cup series, only to be told it was to be disbanded. Yet it continued.

"I was told Track World Cups weren't going to ever happen again but then four were announced this winter with absolutely no opportunity to discuss even a small integration of events for para-cycling," she added.

Storey spent six weeks riding once a week just for fun post-Rio, but has returned to training ahead of schedule and this week was in Lanzarote building up for her competitive return.

She is relaxed about her own future, knowing the bits of the puzzle will slot into place as she targets her eighth Paralympics.

She added: "It's nice to have that time on our side at the moment. We'll have a blueprint for how we get to Tokyo over the coming weeks and months.

"Then I'll start racing again and it will all come into place a bit further."

She will hope the UCI's para-cycling blueprint comes together at the same time.