THEY may be three years away, but Chris Latham already has his sights set on the Olympic Games after a promising first year on the path to Tokyo 2020.

The 23-year-old won a first World Championship medal when he took bronze in the scratch race back in April.

That came less than a fortnight after the Bolton man had a win on the road in the Klondike GP for Team Wiggins and was followed by numerous other top-five finishes on the roads of Europe this summer.

But his focus has now switched back to the track for the winter and further establishing himself in the Great Britain team.

Latham was appearing in only his second World Championships in 2017, but is now a member of the British Cycling podium programme and on track to make an Olympic debut in 2020 – an opportunity he is already relishing.

“It’s really exciting to be looking ahead to Tokyo,” said Latham, who is from Breightmet and went to Withins High School which later became St Catherine's Academy.

“It’s good to be around guys like Ste [Steven Burke] and the other Olympic champs that have been there, done it, got the gold medals.

“It’s good motivation to have them there, and you know that if you’re keeping up with them then we should be doing all right.

“I’m not really sure of my final plan this year, I don’t know whether it’ll be more bunch racing or team pursuit focused, we’ll see.”

The TISSOT UCI Track Cycling World Cup returns to Manchester for the first time in four years from November 10-12, and local lad Latham cannot wait to ride on the track where he started his cycling career.

“Having it in Manchester will be mint,” he said. "I’ve never done a Manchester World Cup so I’m really going to be looking forward to it.

“My season on the road has been all right, to be fair. I did a lot more on the road than I have done before, I’ve not been on the track so much this year.

“I’m going to be doing some more of the World Cups this year, probably more this year than last year."

n On November 10-12, incredible riders like Chris Latham will compete at the Manchester Velodrome in one of the most anticipated events on the track cycling calendar. Buy your tickets http://www.trackworldcup.co.uk/tickets/