Cycling super-mum Laura Kenny admits she was ‘scared’ to return to the track after giving birth to her first child. 

The four-time Olympic champion, married to Farnworth bike ace Jason, welcomed son Albie into the world at their Cheshire home last year. 

Back on the bike in March, Laura joined the likes of Serena Williams, Jessica Ennis-Hill and Poynton’s Dame Sarah Storey in returning to elite competition after pregnancy. 

But the 26-year-old is the first to admit it was a bumpy ride.

“The European Championships (in August) didn’t go how we thought but the level was very different to what I’d raced at before,” said the seven-time world champion. 

“Sure, I won two golds but I didn’t feel good in myself. 

“It didn’t feel like the old Laura. Recently, more and more, that’s how I’ve been feeling. When I get into a sprint now, I feel like ‘right, this is on.’ 

“I don’t feel scared anymore. I know it was only a year off but it did take me by surprise how I felt. Now I feel back to my old self and relaxed in there.”

Cycling’s most famous couple, with ten Olympic gold medals on the mantelpiece, will team up and fly the flag for Britain as the Track World Cup returns to London this Friday.

Manchester has been the traditional curtain-raiser for the World Cup series and the National Cycling Centre, venue for the 2000 Commonwealth Games, hosted a stage in 2017. 

The Great Britain team, based at the centre by the Etihad Campus, have made a strong start to this year’s World Cup season with more than 20 medals in the first three rounds.

Laura pitched in with four golds – claiming team pursuit victory in both Canada and Germany – as well as omnium in Milton and Madison in Berlin. 

The Madison, a frantic tag-team tussle between nations, is a new event keeping Kenny on her toes after missing much of its rise during her pregnancy. 

“The Madison is by far the most challenging event we do because I’m just so new to it,” she said.

“Taking my year out means I don’t have the experience of it at the lower level. I’ve been thrown in at the deep end.

“It’s got to the point where I dread it when I’m on the start line! I’m glad it went well at the European Championships because I was debating whether to keep going with it.”

See the stars of British Cycling #BackToTheTrack at London’s Lee Valley VeloPark at the 2018 TISSOT UCI Track Cycling World Cup series between December 14 and 16. For tickets and more information click here