Jason Kenny: 'Tokyo 2020 preparations have been a disaster'

Both Kennys returned to racing last year, but must balance competing at the highest level with being parents.

"Our lifestyle is an absolute disaster as a professional athlete," Kenny told Press Association Sport.

"If you'd told me when I was 17 we could do what we do now and still be a full-time athlete I'd have said you were mad.

"But it's amazing how much you seem to be able to soak up, whether it's not sleeping or chasing him around all day and being knackered without even having trained. You don't have a choice, you just have to soak it up.

"It's amazing what you can deal with and it's opened my eyes to that."

Albie travels with his parents when they are racing at the same event, having been to the last two track world championships in Apeldoorn and Pruszkow, while they must balance childcare when their schedules leave them apart.

It might be a "disaster" but Kenny does not let such things worry him anymore.

"Having Albie has really taught me to sit back and let stuff happen, to accept you can't be in control," he said. "As an athlete you want to be in control of absolutely everything and you end up getting quite stressed when you can't be.

"Having Albie has taught me life as a parent is so unpredictable, you just have to accept you might be up in the middle of the night cleaning up poo or something."

Both Kennys suffered disappointment at last month's world championships. Laura withdrew from the omnium through illness after blaming her own performance for Britain taking team pursuit silver behind Australia, while Jason and the men's team sprint squad failed to get into the medal rounds.

Three weeks later, the frustration has not worn off.

"The biggest disappointment for me is to not be at our best for a world championships," Kenny said. "It's the biggest race of the year and it's a shame not to do your best performance."

Kenny believes there are several factors behind the poor showing, but admitted he still has work to do in his conversion to the role of man three – the last man in the team sprint.

"It's having that sustained power," he said. "It doesn't come naturally to me. You look at your natural man threes like Chris Hoy. They naturally produce a nice flat (power) curve, they have a lot of power for a long time."

But Kenny is confident Britain have plenty of time to iron out the kinks and repeat their usual trick of peaking just in time for an Olympic Games.

That means there is plenty of serious work ahead, though this weekend Kenny is looking forward to the much less stressful environment of Six Day Manchester, the cycling equivalent of a house party in which both Kennys will compete as part of a star-studded line-up.

"It's fun," Kenny said. "You're riding your bike for the same reason you were when you were 14 years old and it's for the sake of it. It's the best reason.

"At the same time, you'll be working on those skills that will come into play down the line and help you win when it matters."

:: Tickets for Phynova Six Day Manchester at the UK National Cycling Centre, 22-24 March, are on sale now via ticketmaster.co.uk/sixdaymanchester

ga('create', 'UA-72310761-1', 'auto', {'name': 'pacontentapi'});
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'referrer', location.origin);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension1', 'By Ian Parker, Press Association Sport');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension2', 'f0929d78-6cb1-4294-9d85-338a2e668966');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension3', 'paservice:sport,paservice:sport:uk,paservice:sport:world');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension6', 'story');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension7', 'composite');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension8', null);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension9', 'sport:cycling,sport:other');
ga('pacontentapi.send', 'pageview', { 'location': location.href, 'page': (location.pathname + location.search + location.hash), 'title': 'Jason Kenny still adjusting to new routine with Tokyo 2020 on the horizon'});