Is it a Boardman, is it a plane..?

CYCLING: Britain's free-wheeler starts his title pursuit at the World Track Championships in Manchester today. Guy Hodgson reports

For a man who was discussing Superman positions, Chris Boardman looked in need of an urgent visit to a telephone box. Even drippy Clark Kent remembers to put socks on, and what sportsman comes to a press conference these days wearing a shirt and tie?

The image was incongruous given the talk about the mountains that are about to be attempted, but the conviction behind Boardman's words had the ring of authenticity. If things go to plan at the Manchester Velodrome over the next 10 days, Britain's most celebrated cyclist will have reclaimed two of the sport's great prizes.

This morning he begins his assault on the 4,000 metres pursuit title at the World Track Championships, and next Friday he will try to ride further in one hour than any man has gone before. It is an intimidating agenda but to hear him diminishes the scale.

"I believe the world record will be broken in the pursuit," he said. "In fact, I will be more surprised if it wasn't broken than if it was." As for the hour, the blue riband cycling equivalent of athletics' four- minute mile, he said he would not be even attempting it if he did not have a margin to work with. "It would be too much of a risk," he said. "There are no second prizes."

It was not the idle bragging that belittles many a sportsman, nor the mock bravado of an athlete constructing his confidence by saying what he wants to hear. Boardman, who turned 28 on Monday, has done the experiments and has reason to believe he can enhance a reputation built on his Olympic gold medal in the pursuit in Barcelona four years ago. There is also the little matter of a new riding position.

This involves stretching out the arms and lying on the handlebars so that the rider, from the waist up, looks like he is flying. It did not take a quantum leap of imagination to draw parallels with Superman, and when the Italian Andrea Collinelli used the position invented by Boardman's fellow Briton, Graeme Obree, to win the gold at the Atlanta Olympics, the results look super, too.

Certainly they did to Boardman, who returned from the Olympics, tried to take off on a specially modified bike in trials in Manchester, and was flying within an afternoon. "It's a considerable improvement," Boardman, who held the hour record for a year until Obree broke it in 1994, said. "I don't like it. I think it's going towards human-powered vehicle racing, but if it's within the rules and I consider it to be an advantage, I'll use it."

A new position has coincided with his return to fitness. A slight viral infection hamstrung Boardman in the Tour de France, where he finished 39th, and the effect of the three-week Tour had an effect in Atlanta, where he could claim only bronze in the time trial. At Manchester, however, he has uncovered his form.

Even without the Superman position, Boardman was doing enough to suggest he would outstrip the hour record of 55.295 kilometres, set by Switzerland's Tony Rominger in November 1994 at Bordeaux, the scene of the Merseysider's own record. The advantage of taking it lying down has pushed back the limits now and the 56km mark is within reach.

"I won't be drawn into figures," Boardman said, "because I then have to live up to it. Everyone will be waiting. Expecting. All I'll say is that 56 kilometres is possible. If I thought I could only do 55.35 or 55.4, I wouldn't do it. If you're talking about breaking a record by 50 metres, it would be so close it would be unpleasant to try. The mental pressure would be enormous."

The whole record is a question of mind. The last time he broke it, the sheer enormity of what he was undertaking paralysed Boardman. "Starting is very difficult," he admitted.

"There's no fixed time, someone just tells you to go when you're ready. I remember sitting at Bordeaux thinking, 'You've got to go, you've got to go'.

"It's all ahead of you. The unknown. Can I do it? You don't get many people who do the thing in training. You do portions of it - 20 kilometres, half an hour - but you don't do it all. To have the whole thing in front of you is enormous."

Boardman's first attempt will be on 6 September, but the following day has also been set aside in case of mishap, as well as the following weekend.

"I want to do it as soon as possible. There's always a chance I might want to return to it, but I'm in good form now and want to get it over with," he said.

First, however, there is the World Track Championships and the title he won in 1994. Then Boardman indicated he would probably turn his back on the pursuit, but the pull of an event so close to home has proved irresistible. "It's an hour from where I live. And that's unlikely to happen again in my cycling career. It will be a very special occasion for me." If it all goes to plan, it will be special for more than him.

World Championships Timetable

Today

0900: Men's individual pursuit first round

1020: Keirin heats

1055: Women's sprint qualifying round (200m time trial)

1140: Keirin repechages

1500: Opening ceremony

1530: Presentation of UCI 1996 World Cup

1600: Men's individual pursuit quarter-finals

1635: Women's sprint first round

1715: Keirin second round

1735: Women's sprint repechages

1755: Kilometre time trial final

1910: Keirin final

1925: Time trial and Keirin presentation ceremonies

1955: Madison final

Tomorrow

1600: Olympic sprint first round

1635: Women's sprint eighth-finals

1705: Men's individual pursuit semi-finals

1725: Women's sprint repechages

1740: Olympic sprint second round

1800: Women's sprint quarter-finals, first match

1820: Madison presentation ceremony

1840: Women's sprint quarter-finals, second match

1905: Men's individual pursuit final

1915: Women's sprint quarter-finals, decider

1925: Men's individual pursuit ceremony

1945: Women's sprint 5th-8th place

1955: Olympic sprint finals

Friday

0900: Team pursuit first round

1100: Men's sprint qualifying round (200m time trial)

1600: Women's sprint semi-finals, first match

1615: Team pursuit quarter-finals

1650: Women's sprint semi-finals, second match

1700: Olympic sprint ceremony

1720: Women's sprint semi-finals, decider

1725: Men's sprint first round

1815: Women's sprint final, first match

1830: Women's points race final

1915: Women's sprint final, second match

1925: Men's sprint repechages

1950: Women's sprint final, decider

Saturday

1030: Women's pursuit first round

1500: Men's sprint second round

1540: Women's sprint and points race ceremonies

1610: Team pursuit semi-finals

1630: Men's sprint repechages

1650: Women's 500m time trial final

1755: Men's sprint eighth-finals

1820: Women's 500m time trial ceremony

1840: Men's sprint repechages

1900: Team pursuit final

1915: Men's sprint quarter-finals, first match

1930: Team pursuit ceremony

1950: Men's sprint quarter-finals, second match

2010: Women's pursuit quarter-finals

2035: Men's sprint quarter-finals, decider

Sunday

1500: Men's sprint semi-finals, first match

1515: Women's pursuit semi-finals

1535: Men's sprint semi-finals, second match

1545: Men's sprint 5th-8th places

1555: Men's sprint semi-finals, decider

1610: Men's points race final

1705: Men's sprint final, first match

1715: Men's points race ceremony

1735: Women's pursuit final

1750: Men's sprint final, second match

1800: Women's pursuit ceremony

1820: Men's sprint final, decider

1830: Men's sprint ceremony