Every rider trains their muscles but few train their brain.

When you win sprints, you're a great sprinter, but when you win a great one-day race, you've proved you're a great rider.

In a sprint you make 100 decisions a second. What if X goes now and Y goes then? Should I take this gap or that one? You have to be sharp. Over time it becomes instinct.

But you have to take asthma seriously. People do not realise the stress our bodies go under.

I used to walk down a street and nobody would notice me. Now, I get stopped all the time; people saying, 'well done'. It makes me really, really proud to have done my bit to help make cycling a little bit more popular.

I always go for broke. It's win or nothing for me.

The other sprinters are big and powerful but I have different strengths. The first thing is my leg speed. Most guys sprint at 120 revolutions per minute but I sprint at 130-140: think of it like a smaller engine revving faster. My body is shorter too, so I can lean over the handlebars for a more aerodynamic profile: again, think a smaller engine but in an F1 car.

I'm 100% a sprinter... an old school one, not one of these new guys that can climb and sprint.

Psychological edge is massive in sprinting.