STEVEN Burke is 22. If most don’t know him yet, it is looking increasingly likely that they will by the time his cycling career is over.

Mention the Great Britain cycling team and many think of Sir Chris Hoy and Bradley Wiggins.

And yet sprint king Wiggins’ successor is starting to look like a modest and unassuming rider from Colne, East Lancashire.

Burke is not a man who goes out of his way to seek attention, preferring a day on his bike rather than time in front of a camera.

Like all of Great Britain’s cycling group, his dedication fits perfectly with the Olympic ideals.

He may not be a household name yet, but there is time for that to change.

Wiggins did not win his first Olympic gold medal until the age of 24, Hoy 28.

Burke will be 24 at London 2012 and looks in a good position to open his account. He is the newest member of Great Britain’s outstanding team pursuit quartet, who posted the fifth fastest time in history in Manchester at the weekend and will be hot favourites for victory at the Olympics.

Burke previously won bronze in the individual pursuit in Beijing, and it must be hoped that the scrapping of that event by the IOC will not damage his career.

The chance for multiple gold medals at a single Olympics may have diminished, although he hopes to enter the omnium at 2012.

Few should be surprised, though, if Burke still has no shortage of medals to his name when he retires, with so many years ahead of him.