Laura Kenny may call her work-life balance a logistical nightmare these days but the four-time Olympic champion says she is heading into next yearâs Tokyo Games feeling more relaxed than ever before.
It is now two years since the 27-year-old became mum to Albie and coming up to 18 months since she returned to racing.
That period has been a steep learning curve for Laura and her husband Jason, who will be looking to add to his six Olympic titles next year, but one that has given them a fresh perspective on the challenges in front of them.
âFor me, I feel a lot more relaxed about this Games coming than I think I ever have done,â Kenny told the PA news agency. âWhen I say that people think, âShe doesnât care as muchâ, but thatâs just not true.
âItâs just that Iâve got new elements to my life that stop me worrying about it all the time. You can fall into a trap where you want it so much itâs all you ever think about and I donât think thatâs healthy.
âYes, itâs more chaotic now, but that means I enjoy it a lot more. When we go to training camps and Albie comes with me, it gives me that chance to step away and be me.
âThat was something missing before Rio.â
Kenny will be aiming to keep the Olympic team pursuit and omnium titles she won in both London and Rio next year, but also wants to earn selection for the Madison, new to the womenâs Olympic programme in Tokyo.
Getting the nod will be as much about form as it is about finding the right partnership, with Britain experimenting with different duos at a number of events.
âItâs a funny one because itâs about the connection you have with the other rider,â added Kenny, who is due to partner fellow Olympic champion Elinor Barker when she races at the Phynova Six Day London at the end of the month.
âItâs not about being the best two people. You need to have a relationship, you need to know how they react and change and weâve been learning that over the summer.â
Six Day London will see the competition for Madison places played out on the track with Katie Archibald partnering Neah Evans and Emily Nelson riding with Manon Lloyd as the British team turn up en masse.
âWhen all the endurance girls do it, the standard is so high,â Kenny said. âItâs good to have a race thatâs more laid back. Youâre racing in the dark with lights over your bike so it takes some of the seriousness out of it.
âThough youâre still getting points for your Olympic qualification, itâs such a different environment to the intensity of a World Cup or the World Championships.â
Before London come the European Championships in Apeldoorn next week, where Kenny and Great Britain are hoping to put right much of went wrong in a disappointing display at this yearâs World Championships in March.
Results in Pruszkow raised questions about whether British Cyclingâs âmedal factoryâ was nearing the end of the production line, but Kenny said there were not too many concerns within the programme.
âExpectations come from how much success weâve had in the past,â she said. âIn Pruszkow the menâs pursuit team did the quickest time theyâve ever done but itâs just that Australia went quicker.
âThatâs tricky but weâve been there before and Iâm sure we can get through it again.
âIn 2015, that was the first World Championships where we didnât win the womenâs team pursuit (since before the London Games) and everybody thought, âWhat on earth?â but we still went on to win the Olympics so Iâm not worried.
âItâs not just as though, because the Worlds didnât go to plan you throw it out.
âWeâve got targets along the way, stepping stones, and if youâve bought into the training plan you can still feel pretty confident.â
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