Inside the head of BMX star Quillan Isidore for new elite season

When the lights are flashing and the gate drops down, what is going through the mind of an elite BMX rider?

Quillan Isidore has been preparing for this very moment over the last five months in the gym, working on his technique and coming up with new ways for keeping ahead of his rivals.

This weekend, the 19-year-old from south London jumps back into the saddle for the season opener at the National Cycling Centre. The atmosphere in Manchester's classy indoor cycling venue will be electric.

To make the Olympics, Quillan needs some big wins in the coming months, but the Sky Academy Sports Scholar is not the type of athlete to be fretting too much.

Find out what goes through his head at the start of a race, what he's been up to in the off-season and how he's slowly plotting his route to be world class....

I'll be in the gate on Saturday, my first race of the season and first of all I'll be thinking 'blooming hell, I've not done this for a while!'

As soon as I step up to the gate, I'll whisper under my breath 'Come on, you've got this'. I'll remind myself about the reaction time and coming out of the gate so I can get a better start than my competitors.

I'll try not to let my mind wander. I'll get in the zone and not get too hyped up so I fluff the gate or make mistakes. A good start means everything.

It's all about the timing of the front wheel leaving the gate. The gate is just over a foot high so it's about reacting to the beeps or the lights. I might say good luck to a team-mate but I don't speak to anyone else when I'm lining up in that pen. I keep myself to myself.

The gate drops on green but you react to red. The four things I think about are intensity - where you put everything on the first four pedals - timing, keeping your head up and having your hips at the bars.

I even confuse myself sometimes just thinking about all of this. Over time, this will all come naturally and it will become a habit. It will take a few years but I'm getting there.

When the race starts, you zone it all out and you can't hear the crowd at all. If I'm leading, I'll hit the first straight and my mind will be blank. If I'm leading out of the second corner, I will tell myself to take my time, don't do anything stupid and try for a smooth lap.  

It's the start of a new season, it's my home track and I'm feeling very relaxed. It's just another day and it's the same environment and I'm really looking forward to it.

Training's going well and I've freshened up over the winter. I'm the only GB rider racing this weekend with the others either injured or competing in Colombia. So I'm hoping to represent them very well and go out and ride my bike and have some fun. I can actually see myself on the podium.

My body's feeling good and I'm all healthy. I had a few injury niggles but nothing major but that's standard for an athlete.

I last raced in October and since then, I've only had about a week off. Four of those days were completely switching off but the others were in the gym or just on the bike. I really enjoy the sport and I ride my bike socially anyway, so I've just been getting down to hard work and improving for this season.

I'm strong enough after working in the gym so it's a case of transferring that strength onto the bike. I've also been working on my technique and had a lot of bike time. I'm on four track sessions a week with one or two gym sessions.

Last year, it was three gym sessions. That was tough but now it's less and the focus is on the bike. I'm looking to improve in all aspects such as bike control or at the start. 

You can practice the lights and taking corners. Having a training partner helps with that. You can also use cones to help perform tighter lines and you can practice on the flat anywhere! In a car park, you can create a slalom course. We do that loads and so in a race you then do what comes naturally.

The peak age of a BMX rider seems to be getting younger. There's GB's Liam Phillips, who's just turned 27 and was world champion in 2013. Now he's the best he's ever been.

Liam is super strong on his bike and technically he's perfect at the start. And there's Dutch rider Niek Kimmann.

He's not reached his peak yet, he's only 19 and he's the current world champion. He's got so much confidence from his junior years. He's just a very good racer and knows what to do, he makes the right moves at the right time.

He's very strong and comfortable and agile on his bike and covers all the areas needed to be world class.

For this season, I won't set any targets. I don't like to go into a race with a target on my head. When I do that, I over-think it and I don't go through processes. I just want to go into every race, performing to my best ability and stay on the bike!

The scoring points for Olympic qualifying started from the second World Cup in 2014 so I came in late. I would have to have won every World Cup to match the points of the other riders. They've had a whole extra year to score their points.

GB are currently fifth in the world and that qualifies two spots for Rio. We are only 80 points behind France so it only takes three of our riders to all make the semi-finals and that should get us three spots.

But GB will want to send riders who can win medals. I need to make World Cup finals and show them I'm able to win medals over the other three riders. But I'm not stressed and trying not to think about it too much.

I have all these stepping stones and I have to tick the box on each one. If I don't go, then I know I have two or three more Olympics. It will be the best thing ever to go to Brazil but I have to be realistic.

I'm fired up for this weekend. I had a rest day on Wednesday and I was so bored! I just wanted to get on my bike. I enjoy this sport so much. I'm still a kid at heart when I'm on my bike. I love it.

WHAT'S COMING UP FOR OUR SCHOLARS..............

MARCH 11-14: Elise Christie, World Championships, Seoul

MARCH 12: Jessica Judd, Inter Counties Cross Country

MARCH 19: Sam Oldham, English Championships, Loughborough