Owain Doull column: Defeat at World Championships still hurts

Owain Doull took defeat in the team pursuit at the World Championships badly (Picture: SWpixcom)

It's been more than a week since our defeat to Australia in the final of the team pursuit at the World Championships in London but the disappointment still hasn't gone away.

It's not as bad as it was at first - I was pretty lousy company for a day or so afterwards - but a rainbow jersey is a major honour in cycling and the pain of missing out on one doesn't fade easily.

The only consolation is there were positives to take from the race, mainly the fact we weren't at full fitness yet still got to the final and then finished a close second.

(From left) Andy Tennant, Ed Clancy, Sir Bradley Wiggins, Doull, Steven Burke and Jon Dibben on the podium

Ed Clancy, who is just about the best team pursuiter in history, had back surgery only three months ago and his lack of 100 per cent condition was inevitably going to hamper us.

He put in an incredible performance in the final in the circumstances, but we couldn't quite protect him enough in the last 1km or so and he faded, and that's where the race was lost, unfortunately.

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Wiggins reflects on Britain's silver medal in the team pursuit

Maybe we could have structured our ride a little better to make sure he didn't have to do one last turn on the front, but it was a fiercely competitive race and it just didn't pan out that way.

With Ed hopefully back to full fitness in time for the Olympic Games, we'll be a far stronger team and that's a really encouraging sign.

Sir Bradley Wiggins certainly thought so. Straight after the race he said he is confident we will win gold in Rio and I would probably back him up on that. I think we've got enough to do it, but it's going to be close either way.

Doull looks over at the victorious Australians on the podium

Our silver helped Britain top the medals table in London, with nine, and that was a big boost for everyone in the squad; to know that across every discipline, we're once again the best in the world.

But at the same time, we're not ignoring the fact that three of our five gold medals were in non-Olympic events and there are still considerable improvements to be made in the five months before the Games start.

Undoubtedly, the highlight of the worlds for me was Jon Dibben winning the points race. That was such a special moment and I'll never forget it.

Britain's men's pursuit team were not at full fitness in London

Jon had ridden the pursuit final with us the day before, so to see him pick himself up from that disappointment and then go and win gold was immensely inspiring.

I tweeted at the time that I had a tear in my eye and that wasn't just me being dramatic - I really did. I've been riding with Jon since I was about 14, we've been best mates for a while and we've lived together for three or four years, so I'm happy to admit I got a bit emotional when he crossed the line first.

Obviously, the focus now turns entirely on to preparing for Rio. I spent last week in light training in the UK, but on Tuesday we fly out to Tenerife for a two-week training camp.

Jon Dibben's win in the points race brought a tear to Doull's eye

After that, we've got a block of road racing and my first outing will be at Le Triptyque des Monts et Chateaux in Belgium, which I've finished first and second at in the past two years.

From there we head to the Tour of Croatia, Tour de Yorkshire and Tour of California, so I'm going to be totting up a fair few air miles as well as road miles over the next couple of months.

After that, we're on the home straight to Rio. It's an exciting time.