British cyclists head to the Olympic velodrome with the aim of maintaining their world dominance on the track. Twelve medals are up for grabs. They will face an added challenge at Paris 2024. They will be without a number of riders who have delivered strong results for the country at recent Games.

Great Britain has led the medal tally since Beijing 2008. However, this time around, Laura and Jason Kenny, who won 12 gold medals between them, and Katie Archibald, who broke her leg in an accident, will be absent. Even with the Kenny boost in Tokyo, they were able to maintain their status, but the gap to the Netherlands narrowed considerably.

The favourites went from winning 12 medals in Rio 2016, including six golds, to nine in Japan and just three golds. They had won seven gold medals at both the Beijing and London Games. With the absences they will have to make up for at Paris 2024, Great Britain will be relying on young cyclist and sprinter Emma Finucane. She won the world sprint title in Glasgow last year. She also won the European Championships earlier this year.

The 21-year-old will also compete in the keirin and team sprint. She is aiming to become the first cyclist to win three gold medals at the same Olympic Games. "With the times I have posted, everything is positive going into the Paris Olympics," she said. "I'm excited. I'm going in with an open mind."

Finucane is expected to do well by Laura Kenny, who won five gold medals at three successive Olympic Games before retiring after Tokyo. "Emma has a rare talent. She can win multiple medals in Paris," Kenny said in a newspaper column this week.

She will be joined in the women's sprint by Katy Marchant, who won individual bronze at Rio 2016. Sophie Capewell will be making her debut. There is much more talent in Great Britain. Madison star Ethan Hayter and Jack Carlin will lead the men's sprinters at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines velodrome.

The Dutch team will again be led by powerful sprinter Harrie Lavreysen, the defending men's individual champion. He will also be one of the favourites in the keirin, having won bronze in Japan. The Netherlands have been the dominant force since winning their first gold in 2018. Roy van den Berg, Lavreysen and Jeffrey Hoogland will complete the trio looking to dethrone the British.

Other medal contenders include Jennifer Valente. In Tokyo, she stunned then omnium world champion Yumi Kajihara to become the first American woman to win Olympic track gold. Valente is now a favourite to win the world title in 2022 and 2023.

New Zealand also have a strong prospect in Ellesse Andrews, who won silver on her Olympic debut in 2021 and went on to win the World title in Glasgow last year, making her a strong contender to succeed. "I'm a different person than I was at the last Olympics and that's because I have more experience and I've grown up a bit," she said.

The cycling action kicks off on Monday with the women's team sprint final. It will be an intense day on 11 August with gold medals up for grabs in the women's sprint and omnium and the men's keirin.

Alongside Valente (USA), Lavreysen of the Netherlands has led the Dutch dominance in sprinting since Rio. She has 13 world titles and two Olympic gold medals after winning the sprint and team sprint in Tokyo.

New Zealand's Ellesse Andrews broke her collarbone in a crash in January. She returned to action in April by winning the Canadian stage of the Nations Cup. The 24-year-old will also be a medal contender in the individual sprint after taking bronze at the World Championships, and will team up with Shaane Fulton and Rebecca Petch in the team sprint.

Azizulhasni Awang of Malaysia, the keirin sprinter, should not be overlooked. The 36-year-old underwent heart surgery in 2022, though he made it to the Olympics. He won keirin bronze in Rio and silver in Tokyo, with Paris 2024 being his fifth and final Olympic Games.

Despite all these favourites, the spotlight remains on Finucane, who at 21 is the jewel in the crown. She is the only cyclist who could make history. She would be the first woman to win three gold medals at the same Olympic Games. The velodrome at Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines has a capacity of 5,000 spectators, and it is expected that it will be full on most of the days.