Cyclist Mark Downey in shape of his life for Tokyo campaign

The postponement of the Games led Downey to work in his father’s cycling shop for a period of time and when he turned his sights fully back to cycling he then received a shock to the system. “Last August I had to remind myself that I was a full-time cyclist after a wake-up call when I competed in the Irish championships. There was no gas in the tank so it was the boot up the backside I needed,” said Downey, speaking exclusively to Sunday Life Sport.

“I was 4kg over weight which was fat in my terms. So, that got me going and I decided to put myself through hell in Majorca. I pushed really hard and got myself back into good shape. After seven weeks three of those kilos had been taken off.”

Having teamed up with a French amateur road racing team, Downey accelerated his race fitness and after two months in Majorca then came the crucial three-and-a-half weeks in the Sierra Nevada mountains, 3,000 metres above sea level.

Downey, who will compete in the Omnium on August 5 and the Madison two days later, insists altitude training has taken his fitness to another level.

He added: “It was very hard… we did a 30km climb five days out of seven and being at altitude it created so much pressure on the lungs that I would wake up in the middle of the night panic breathing. Even just lying on the sofa I could feel my breathing being affected.

“At the start it was a case of getting up every morning and not feeling you had really recovered from the previous day. We did testing every day and you were seeing how your body could cope with less oxygen. It basically took my fitness up another gear and really I would have to say that I’m in the shape of my life. I smashed all my PBS in training.”

As Downey looks ahead to his Tokyo campaign, the cyclist from County Down feels that every team will have a sense of entering the unknown due to the lack of world class competition over the past 12 months.

“I think there is going to be a real element of surprise when it comes to competition. All I know is that I am now a better athlete than I’ve ever been before. The numbers tell me that. I have proven that I can handle the high demand at the World championships and the Commonwealth Games and I’m just preparing for my best performance. I’ve nothing to be nervous about, I just have to give everything I have in the tank.

“It’s pretty special to be going to the Games, just like my dad did. I grew up in a very competitive household, listening to my dad’s stories like the only reason he started cycling was to get out of milking the cows on the dairy farm he grew up on.

“I think the whole family is probably more excited than me and I just hope I can give them a performance that will get them out of their seat and shouting at the telly.”