Dr Steve Peters claims to know little about cycling. He even hesitates to describe himself as a fan of the sport. Yet as a member of British Cycling's senior management team, Peters has been a vital cog in one of the country's greatest ever stories of sporting success, culminating at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, where the cyclists won eight gold medals.

And now, with Team Sky, he is hoping to help write another glorious chapter.

Peters is the team's psychiatrist and head of medicine. Having initially become involved with British Cycling in 2001, he now works with riders, coaches and the staff team, and his contribution is deemed so valuable that Dave Brailsford, the Sky team principal, has described Peters as "the best appointment I've ever made."

"As head of the medical team I'll lead the two doctors we'll have in the field," explains Peters. "We have another doctor at our headquarters in Manchester, and a nutritionist, and my job is to make sure they're able to function properly and do their jobs well."

As for his work with the riders, he makes a distinction between his work as a psychiatrist - with a background in forensic psychiatry - and the approach of a sports psychologist. "A psychologist can teach you how to drive the car," he says, "but the psychiatrist lifts the bonnet, looks at the machine, takes it to pieces and reconstructs it...and then teaches you how to drive the car."

Motivating the riders is not the issue, he says. "Motivation isn't usually a problem with elite athletes, though sometimes confidence can be an issue, or anxiety," he explains. "It's more to do with whether they get what they need to do the job that we're asking of them.

"I'll step forward and help when I'm needed," he adds, "but otherwise my role is in the background."