She may have four times as many Olympic gold medals as Katie Archibald, but Laura Kenny has nothing but admiration for the Scottish cyclist following her performances both at and post Rio 2016.

Back in August Kenny and Archibald combined forces with Elinor Barker and Joanna Rowsell Shand to take the team pursuit title in Rio, setting a new world record in the process and defending the title Great Britain won four years earlier in London.

Kenny then went on to successfully retain her omnium title a few days later before taking a break from all things two-wheeled to get married to fellow Rio cycling star Jason Kenny.

But while Kenny was revelling in marital bliss, Olympic debutant Archibald was continuing to put the hard yards in on the bike, winning double gold and silver at the European Track Cycling Championships, blowing her rivals away at Six Day London and then winning Madison World Cup gold on home soil in Glasgow, despite a broken wrist.

That injury has now meant an enforced period on the sidelines although Kenny admits her teammate will be itching to return, with her appetite for the sport plain to see.

“Katie is just unbelievable. I can’t believe she carried on [after Rio], and carried on that kind of form, because for me, I underestimated how hard it was to back up, going into a second Olympics,” she said.

“But Katie just kind of went with it, and carried on that kind of form and determination.

“She’s honestly incredible. In the team pursuit in Rio, she was the best out of us all, she was phenomenal. The turns that she was pulling from the front, I’d literally never seen her ride like that before. 

“But it is great to see. It really keeps me on my toes and it is nice that there is a fight within the team.

“She’s out with injury at the minute, because she carried on that madison in the World Cup with a broken wrist, and that just sums Katie up in a nutshell – no pain is too much for her.

“She could have broken her leg and the girl would have still got back on her bike and carried on.

“She will definitely bounce back from her injury. She had her wrist operated on and it has been all pinned, but she’s already back riding on the turbo and she won’t listen to anyone.

“Before long, she is going to be on the road, it doesn’t matter if she’s still got it in a cast – that girl will be training.”

It is roles reversed this weekend, however, with Kenny marking a return to the bike after a six-week break for the high-octane Revolution Cycling Champions League at Lee Valley VeloPark on 2 and 3 December - the London event is the conclusion of the 14th season of the Revolution Series.

Archibald, meanwhile, will continue her injury recovery but Kenny is in no doubt that she will have to keep an eye over her shoulder for her teammate not just in the next few months but in the years to come, especially given the chance both will be chasing a place in the omnium at Tokyo 2020.

“She will go on to be very successful. She’s three or four years younger than I am so she could carry on longer than I will,” she added.

“She stepped into the team in a bit of a weird way. She was never on the British Cycling programme because she did everything with Scottish Cycling, and then Paul Manning got her up to do some testing, and that was it really.

“She had two-and-a-half years on the programme before Rio, which isn’t a long time, but she just went with it and she has been getting better and better.”

Tickets for Revolution Cycling Champions League are available to purchase from Sky Tickets with full ticket information on www.cyclingrevolution.com