Cycling: Mix of disciplines suits all-round champ to a tee

Hayden Godfrey. Photo / Chris Skelton

An omnium sounds more like a gathering of ancient Romans or a bank account rather than a cycling event and it's why Hayden Godfrey is often met with blank stares when he says what he does.

They can understand the concept of world champion, however, and Godfrey just happens to be the best omnium rider in the world. He won last year's world championships in Manchester, his first time in the event, and will defend that title in Poland this week.

Put simply, omnium is the decathlon of cycling. It is made up of five events (200m sprint, 5km scratch race, 3000m individual pursuit, 15km points race and 1km time trial) and finds the most consistent rider across different disciplines.

It requires the top-end speed of a sprinter, endurance of a pursuit rider and craft and guile of a points and scratch race cyclist.

The omnium was popular on the cycling programme until the late 1960s when it disappeared. No one is really sure why.

It made a return to the world championships in 2007 and Godfrey instantly knew it was his chance to make his mark as an individual on the world stage.

The 30-year-old has been a fixture in New Zealand teams since 1998, competing at three Commonwealth and one Olympic Games without being in the top echelon. Now he is one of a handful of people who can call themselves world champion.

"I am a classic case of being competitive at a world level in three or four disciplines but that's no good if you're trying to win," he says. "When you put them all together that makes me very competitive.

"There are a lot of really good riders who have tried the omnium, guys who are champions in their discipline but, because they have one two bad events they don't figure. You have to be consistent across the lot and that's my advantage."

Godfrey was so consistent in last year's world championships that his tally of 19 was nine points better than his closest rival and a massive 58 ahead of the last-placed rider. He finished first in the scratch race, third in 200m sprint with his worst of seventh in the points race.

Suggestions have gathered momentum recently that the omnium will be added to the programme for the 2012 London Olympics, along with the women's team's pursuit, but Godfrey isn't holding his breath.

"I'm not sure. It's quite political to get new events at the Olympics," says Godfrey who is also among the favourites for this week's scratch race, another non-Olympic event. "I doubt it will be in London. Maybe later on. It is an event crowds like following because it's all done in one day and people can follow their favourite riders."

Godfrey will concentrate on the madison, a two-person race where riders fling their team-mates around the track, if the omnium is not added to the London programme.