Staff ready for rough and tumble

If you want to know why Jamie Staff rides a bike as though he and his machine have somehow become one entity, ask him to roll up his left trouser leg.

Revealed is the most extraordinary tattoo, intricate in it's detail, depicting a crank-arm and pedal, a car piston, muscle, veins and bone all working as an engine to supply the power that earlier this year took Staff to the keirin World Championship.

If that leg, and it's partner, is working well tonight Staff could win Great Britain's third gold inside the sweltering velodrome following Chris Hoy's success in the 1km time trial and Bradley Wiggins' triumph in the individual pursuit.

The keirin is one of track racing's more extrovert events. Six competitors are paced to a speed of 50kph by a motorised cycle called a derny which then peels off to leave those that had been trailing in its wake to pedal furiously in a sprint for the line. Roughly translated keirin means "fighting" in Japanese, and it is a form of cycle racing that is highly popular in the Far East where betting on professional riders is big business.

Staff, the 31-year-old from Kent, loves the cut and thrust of it all. "You don't have to be in a certain position behind the derny," he said. "Some riders like to be at the front, some riders like to be at the back and if someone is in your position you try and knock him out of the way.

Then, when the derny pulls off, it's a free-forall." Experience gained as a BMX racer - he is a former world, European and six-times British champion - has helped in the transition to the track. Staff said: "A BMX is a very hard bike to race, especially at quite a high level, so that gives you essential handling skills."