Welshman Geraint Thomas lit up the Track Cycling World Cup event in Manchester by breaking the world record for the 4km individual pursuit, an event which if the UCI have their way will be thrown out of the London 2012.
Thomas, in commanding late-season form on the track after missing large chunks of the road season following a nasty crash, tore around the Manchester Velodrome in the qualifying rounds of the World Cup meeting to record 4 mins 15.015 secs – beating Bradley Wiggins' previous best time from the qualifying round of the Athens Oly! mpics.
Wiggins' time was universally accepted as the world record after Chris Boardman's 4 min 11.114 secs from 1996 was expunged because his 'superman' riding position – with straight arms and body stretched – along the length of the bike has subsequently been banned.
Today's ride from Thomas, 23, represents a huge breakthrough but such is his form at present that it wasn't entirely unexpected.
Before the Beijing Olympics last year he produced a 4.17 in training, without his race skins, and last week at Manchester knocked off back-to-back 4.18s to win the British Nationals with some ease.
It will be a bitter sweet moment though with every indication that the UCI are intending to drop both the Men and Women's Individual Pursuit from the Olympics in a radical shake-up of the programme to ensure gender equality.
On this form Thomas would clearly give Wiggins a run for his money and! the reigning world champion Taylor Phinney from the USA wh! o has al so emerged since Beijing.
Indeed the potential for taking the event forward and bringing the times down has never been greater.
Although everybody is agreed that gender equality must happen nobody in the sport can understand why the individual pursuits are being dropped at a time when the team pursuits are taking centre stage at all major championships.
If the athletes involved are present for the team pursuits, the individual events could be held at the same meetings with no extra cost to the Olympics.
