Wheel has turned for the also rans

From being also-rans for so long, when the gold won by Jason Queally at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 seemed like a minor miracle, the battle now is in keeping a lid on expectations.

After last year's world championship brought seven gold medals, a sense of public disappointment in Olympic year will be hard to avoid unless the likes of Chris Hoy, Bradley Wiggins and Victoria Pendleton achieve something similar on home ground.

'It's a new challenge for us, having to manage expectations externally,' admitted performance director Dave Brailsford.

From Thursday until Sunday, British spectators will file into the National Velodrome expecting to cheer a string of home victories.

But, as much as the sport's administrators are hoping for a publicity boost for cycling, for Brailsford the next five days are just one step of many on the road to Beijing.

He said: 'We want to be on top for the Olympics. We've got a clear plan and we know what our strategy is for this year. But if some people think we just need to turn up to win, they'll get a shock.'

Nevertheless, it would be a surprise if Great Britain did not top the medal table. In almost every event, they have a strong medal chance and often the outright favourite.

Wiggins, winner of a gold, silver and bronze at the Athens Olympics in 2004, is hotly tipped for at least two golds, in the individual and team pursuits.

Getting back to the track will be a welcome relief for the Londoner after a traumatic 12 months which included his forced withdrawal from theTour de France after a team-mate was found to be a drugs cheat, the cancelling of T-Mobile's sponsorship of his new team and the death of his father.

'In the individual pursuit, I am going as fast, if not a bit faster than in the past,' Wiggins said. 'And in the team pursuit, the boys are going faster than I have ever seen them go.'

Pendleton, a triple world champion in 2007, will focus on both sprint titles, attempting to take the team event again in partnership with BMX phenomenon Shanaze Reade.

Hoy, having seen his gold medal event from Athens, the one kilometre time trial, removed from the Olympic programme, has reinvented himself as the world's best Keirin rider and is also a good bet in the individual and team sprints.

However, he did reveal that a spectacular crash had threatened to ruin the final week of his preparations. The 32-year-old Scot skinned his hip and backside when he was brought down by a punctured tyre on the lap after an 80kmh motorcycle-paced circuit of the velodrome where he will be in action on Wednesday.

Hoy admits he lost sleep for a few nights because of the soreness but proclaimed himself fully fit to ride in the team sprint.

It will be a testing five days for the 32-year-old Scot as he pursues three gold medals. He will be back on Thursday in the individual sprint and later in the Keirin, an unpredictable motorbike- paced event in which physique and psychology play an equal part.