Katie Archibald feeling the nerves ahead of Track World Cup in Manchester

After reaching such heights, a single round of the World Cup series should be nothing to fear, but you would not know it.

"I almost get nervous talking about nerves," she said. "My results have been good, but we're at this point now where it's so close to competition nerves kind of cloud your judgement. Hopefully, anyway, because I feel awful."

This is not a crisis of confidence, but a sign of how seriously Archibald takes competition at every level.

With Joanna Rowsell Shand retired and Laura Kenny on an indefinite break after becoming a mother, Archibald is now one of the senior riders on a new-look British team full of youthful potential.

Archibald is nearing four years on the team, equivalent to a full Olympic cycle, and she admitted the months since Rio have felt a little strange as she is eager to get back into the full swing of preparation for Tokyo in 2020.

"Everything up to this point has been new ground for me," she said. "[When I started] I had the indulgent comfort of when it all got serious we were looking quite soon to an Olympics.

"[Since Rio] it's almost like free time at school. When we finished our maths homework, we got an art jotter. I've been sort of playing in my art jotter for the past year.

"I've been asking when are we stepping back into the world I know, this Olympics-obsessed world."

The answer is very soon. This World Cup series will be followed by the Track World Championships and Commonwealth Games in quick succession, and from there the countdown to Tokyo will be very much on.

The Track World Cup takes place from Friday to Sunday, with Archibald expected to compete in the team pursuit, omnium and madison - with the latter newly added to the Olympic programme.

Its presence creates several unknowns - but certainly there is the possibility of a rider like Archibald targeting three gold medals in Tokyo.

"You set your stall out in a Utopian world," Archibald said. "If you're an exceptional bike rider, the likes of Laura (Kenny), you could see her doing all three.

"I think the question isn't whether you can perform in all three over the Olympics, it's whether you can mould your training around all three so you don't dilute your skill set and go after three bronze medals rather than one gold medal."

For now, that is a problem for another day. After all, Archibald does not want to look too far into the future when she has a weekend of racing to worry about.

"I think this is interview number three today," she said. "It's like how gymnasts will do enactments in their head. I've been forced into imagining what's going to happen at the weekend. And I feel mildly nauseous."

Jonathan Browning, meanwhile, will step down as chairman of British Cycling next month after the national governing body's key public funding partners made it clear it was time for fresh leadership.

The 58-year-old former Volkswagen boss took over as chairman in February as British Cycling was reeling under the twin crises of claims about bullying and discrimination within the Great Britain team and a UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) investigation into allegations of wrongdoing in the medical department.

Having joined the board as a non-executive director in 2015, Browning was viewed as the only candidate who could drive through the cultural changes and governance reforms demanded by funding agencies Sport England and UK Sport, while also providing continuity.

In that regard, Browning has been a success, with British Cycling now a very changed place from early 2016 when Jess Varnish first made her complaint about former head coach Shane Sutton.

But as a member of the board that presided over the GB set-up at the time of Varnish's complaint, Browning was always vulnerable to criticism, particularly when that board mishandled its initial response to Varnish's complaint.

It was then further damaged by the revelations that led to the ongoing UKAD inquiry later in 2016.

In fact, Sport England chairman Nick Bitel is understood to have threatened to withhold British Cycling's grassroots funding if significant changes were not made at board level earlier this year.

As part of the wider reforms across British sport, Browning was always going to have to reapply to stand as independent chairman - a voluntary position - and had originally intended to do so.

But at a meeting of the board in Manchester on Wednesday, he told his colleagues he is standing down as chairman on December 1 but remaining as a non-executive director until the end of his three-year term in March, when he will decide if he wants to seek a second term.

Speaking to reporters, Browning said he has a "passion for seeing things through" and "remains committed to helping British Cycling at this critical juncture".

He explained that Sport England and UK Sport had agreed he was an "eligible candidate" for the post and he received "good feedback" as he took "soundings" from people inside and outside the sport.

He said: "However, as I've gone through the process, it's become clearer to me that British Cycling would benefit from an all new leadership team... particularly as it reshapes its relationships with its public funding partners."

When asked if that means Sport England and UK Sport refused to back him, Browning said it was "a conversation that evolved".

Looking back at his nine months in charge, Browning pointed to the arrival of new chief executive Julie Harrington, new performance director Stephen Park and new commercial and HR directors as significant steps.

He also said the 39-point action plan he announced to remedy the "culture of fear" issues raised by an independent investigation into Varnish's claims was nearly complete, as are the financial audit and medical review he instigated, which includes the new post of head of medical services.

Furthermore, Browning said he has apologised to Varnish and everybody else who needed an apology on behalf of British Cycling, and explained it was now time to move forward.

In a statement, Harrington thanked Browning for his "strong support and great advice" and praised "the rapid changes" made during his tenure.

The search for his replacement is already under way and an announcement is expected in the coming weeks.