Team Sky harming British track says Staff

Olympic track champion Jamie Staff fears the emergence of professional outfit Team Sky could harm Britain’s hopes of another dominating display in the velodrome at the London Games in 2012.

Staff helped Britain to team sprint gold at Beijing 2008 alongside Chris Hoy and Jason Kenny, and after retiring from the sport took up a coaching post with USA Cycling earlier this year.

Dave Brailsford, performance director at British Cycling and the man who guided the team to eight golds at the 2008 Olympics, has been splitting his time with Team Sky – the professional road team which was formed with the intention of winning the Tour de France – and the national track programme.

However Staff believes that move could be detrimental.

“I would like for them to do well in all events, but with Dave Brailsford’s attention turned to the road, I think it’s having an effect on the track team,” he told reporters.

“You need a leader.

“If your leader goes off and leads something else, you get consequences. At the end of the day it comes down to the riders obviously, but having someone to lead the army is the key.

“It gives the rider the belief they have the backing.

“If you remove that and the riders feel like they are on their own, then cracks can appear. I see some cracks appearing.”

Team Sky made their Tour de France debut this year with two-time Olympic champion Bradley Wiggins as the team leader.