Burning out for glory?

Australia is fielding one of the most talented teams at the track worlds this week but some of the riders may be in danger of burnout, writes Michael Tomalaris.

The London Olympics are more than three years away and it's terrific to see Australia's male track stars dominate the boards and medal tally at the World Championships in Copenhagen.

But I wonder whether the high-performance honchos have taken the "burn-out" factor into account?

Take Cameron Meyer, Leigh Howard and Jack Bobridge for example.

Here we have three superstars in the making all of whom are in their early 20s and all of whom have already tasted the spoils of success as road warriors on the pro-circuit.

While I fully understand each has a passion for track racing, I wonder if the desire for Olympic glory in the velodrome will still be burning come 2012.

Given the results of the first few days of racing in Denmark, it's obvious Australia is taking the world titles more seriously than some of its rival nations including as Great Britain and France.

I just get the impression many national teams are using Copenhagen as a "warm-up" to next year's world titles.

Maybe, that's not the case, but I keep asking myself whether it's healthy to risk the trio's continuing development for their respective trade teams, for a world championship appearance which, quite frankly, appears "ho-hum" by comparison.

I feel Meyer, Howard and Bobridge would be better served cutting their teeth in the Spring Classics or in some of the stage races that fill the European calendar at this time of year.

There's no doubt each is talented enough to successfully compete at Olympic level, but must they continuously be dragged to all corners (World Cup rounds included) to prove anything?

At the 2004 Athens Olympics, Stuart O'Grady and Graeme Brown joined forces at the 11th hour and went on to win gold in the Madison.

It was their first time together in the event and neither had anything to prove as their form on the road in the pro-ranks at the time was enough to convince the coaching hierarchy of their selection.

The same can be said to the current boys brigade in Copenhagen.

May they continue to follow an Olympic track dream, but don't interrupt their progress in their quest to be the best on the roads of Europe.