The Tour of Britain has started in Manchester with Bradley Wiggins aiming to take his Olympic form onto the road. Wiggins won gold, silver and bronze on the track in Athens in the best performance by a British athlete at an Olympics for 40 years.
But to date, the Belgian-born cyclist has struggled to transfer that form to road racing.
And he faces tough opposition in the five-day race from Tour de France runner-up Andreas Kloden among others.
Arguably Britain's best hope, however, is Roger Hammond, the British champion who finished seventh in the Olympics road race.
"I hope to have held my form from the Olympics," said Hammond. "The first three stages are going to be tough, although I should be able to cope. There are some really strong teams in the field and it's going to be tough."
Other top names at the event are Lance Armstrong's US Postal team-mates Jose Azevedo, who was fifth at the Tour de France, and Chechu Rubiera.
The sprint attention looks set to rest firmly on Belgium's Tom Boonen, while Michele Bartoli is a strong bet for a stage win.
Aside from Wiggins and Hammond, British hopes are also headed by Chris Newton and Paul Manning.
Stage one takes the riders on a 129-mile circular route through Lancashire, starting and finishing in Manchester.
This year's Tour of Britain is the first since 1999 and will also see the riders cycling through Sheffield, Nottingham and Newport before finishing in London on Sunday.
MMIX
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