This evening and overnight. Clear skies across england and wales with a mistand skies across england and wales with a mist and fog patches and temperatures overnight typically in the range of 4 8dc. For Easter Sunday we have a frontal system to deal with, High Pressure drifting eastwards. We have more cloud and patchy light rain but the chance of heavy thundery showers across england and wales. A bit of a split. For Northern Ireland and scotland, more in the way of cloud, some patchy rain at times. Elsewhere across england and wales, some spells of sunshine and increasing cloud and a greater chance of heavy and thundery showers, could bring quite a lot of rain in a short amount of time. Still warm crossed Eastern England but coolerfurther north and west. This is bbc news. The headlines, as the death figures in the uk rises by 917 doctors are warning they are still not getting the protective equipment they need to treat patients with coronavirus. No doctor, no health care worker, should knowingly go into a situation where they feel they will become infected simply because the government hasnt done their duty of ca re government hasnt done their duty of care to us when giving us the right equipment. Going from business as usual normal relatively low levels of ppe distribution to the unprecedented level of use of ppe iiow unprecedented level of use of ppe now has been a big challenge and we have still got work to do. The Health Secretary has also confirmed that 19 nhs workers have died since the start of the pandemic. Number ten says the Prime MinisterBoris Johnson is making very Good Progress in his recovery from covid 19. As spains coronavirus death toll falls in the 30 in a row, the World Health Organization tells countries to be cautious about lifting restrictions too early. The United States becomes the first country in the world to record more than 2000 coronavirus deaths in a single day. Police in the uk urge people to stick to the advice to stay at home over the bank holiday weekend, despite the warm weather in parts of the country. Now, the olympic icon Sir Chris Hoy heads to japan, host of next years tokyo games to explored the japanese phenomenon of keirin, the most extreme and exciting event in track cycling. Sir chris hoy has powered to victory to pick up his sixth olympic gold. Britains most successful ever olympian. Two of my olympic titles were in the keirin, a unique cycling race that began here injapan. And hoy has already ignited the burners. There we go. Gold medal performance. 15 years ago i came here to study with and race alongsidejapanese riders and now with the olympics on the horizon, i am back to once again experience this unique sporting passion. I am here in matsudo on the outskirts of tokyo. The last time i was here was in 2005 as a keirin rider myself. But today i am here as a fan. Keirin races featured in the olympics for two decades and involves six riders following a pacing motorbike around the track. Before a hectic sprint for the line in the closing three laps. The japanese keirin has been a National Obsession for almost 80 years. The rules and traditions of the sport reflect Japanese Culture like nothing else in the world. The chap over there in the purple and orange, that is the pacing rider. So if you have watched international keirin before, thats the guy in the motorbike but here you have a human powered racer. And he is actually a keirin racer himself. He will do a certain number of days a year as the pace rider. And he will take itjust as seriously as he does in his racing. It reflects Japanese Culture, everybody takes the job very seriously. They do it to the best of their ability, they do it in the way they are told to do it. There we go. Now it can be quite lucrative for riders, it is a profession. The top riders can earn in excess of £1 million a yearjust through prize money alone. And even the guys who are down in the first and second races who could be 55, even 60 years of age, they could be earning around 50 or £60,000 a year. Its weird, because you look around and theres like nobody in the stands. There are a few folk around here, a few folk behind me, but really it is almost an empty velodrome and yet, all around the country, betting offices, cafes and bars, there are thousands of people watching that one race there. It has a huge following, but its weird because theres nobody here in the stands. Its an amazing stadium and yet its almost empty. It is big business, the japanese keirin. The betting market is around £10 billion a year which is quite staggering. Every year they have one big race, the grand prix, and on that single day there is more money bet than on the entire british horse racing season. 0h well, this is something i never knew existed. It is a shrine, you can come and say a few prayers to the gods of money apparently to give you some good fortune and hopefully win some of the bets on the races. For the competitors, its not so much about luck, more about dedication and tradition. All of japans home grown riders are obliged to complete a years study at the Keirin School in izu, 200 kilometres from tokyo. Even invited International Cyclists like me have to attend before we can compete. I was here in 2005, three years before my first olympic keirin gold. Standing in the shadow of the olympic velodrome, the school is part military academy, part training camp, a place of tradition that focuses on respect, self control and honesty, along with the knowledge necessary for a professional keirin rider. This is where i stayed in 2005 and by the looks of it, nothing has changed. I dont know if theyve even put a lick of paint on it since i was here. Quite excited to go inside, go see my old room. Konnichiwa. I cant believe just how similar everything looks, nothing seems to have changed at all. My room is right at the end, the last door. Yes. Even the smell brings back memories. It is really familiar. There it is. Yeah, its the same. New carpet. Same old unit. Im pretty sure i stuck a sticker up in there when i was here. Is it possible to stand on here . Yes. We used to get these little stickers, all the keirin riders got one given to them. And im sure i stuck it up here. I dont know if it. There it is look at that. Check it out. Look. Thanks very much, that was incredible. I didnt expect to see that up there. Arigato. Trip down memory lane, thank you. Cheers. Thats it, bathroom up here. And in truejapanese style, everything is done together as a team, even bathing. Here we go, pretty cool. Fancya dip . Pick up your little stool, and you pick up your bucket and this is the shower. You pop it down in front of your mirror. Youve got your shampoo and shower gel, you shower yourself, clean yourself and then you have a nice little soak in the tub with that amazing view. You can actually see fuji on a clear day from here. Its really quiet in here today, the students actually arrive back later on this afternoon. They have been away for their Summer Holidays and they come in, 180 students will be staying here and this is where the eat, in the restaurant. This way, sorry. In here. Again, nothing has changed. Exactly how i remember it. I remember the spanish rider, he got a jamon, a whole big leg of ham from spain sent over and sat in the corner there, he was cutting pieces off each day to give him a taste of home. I remember the first time i came here for breakfast, the first morning. That was quite a shock. No bran flakes, thats for sure. Its not just the food that is a bit of a Culture Shock. Here at the Keirin School, all the riders study the laws, tactics and traditions of the sport. Cycling exams were not something i had ever experienced in britain. I cant really talkjust now because they are in the middle of an exam. I can sit and watch and observe them in silence. It is not only the riders minds being tested though. This machine tests their peak power output. It might not look high tech but the japanese are meticulous in their methods. Of course i had to have another go. Can you bring the bars a little bit up, please . 0k. I havent warmed up here, better not pull a hammy. Ready . Three, two, one. Go. 0h oh, dear. Im not making a comeback. Its official. Thank you. Before. This is cool though. You have the exact printout from my test 1a years ago, yeah. See how it goes. And i managed to hang onto the 30 seconds. Back in the old days. Mind you, peak speed 67, 64, only 2. 8 off my peak speed from last time so maybe i am making a comeback actually. Ive changed my mind. Times do change, even here where tradition is so important. Back in 2005, when i was here this was a male only sport but thankfully thats one tradition they have left behind. In 2012 you introduced the Womens Keirin to the Keirin School, how has that gone . Has the Womens Keirin attracted a new audience to keirin . Arigato, thank you. There we go. In addition to the home grown riders tasked with entertaining the japanese cycling fans, is a small group of International Riders. These cyclists, selected from the worlds best, compete in the races and attend the Keirin School. For the first time in ten years there is a british man in theirgroup. Youngster joe truman. He is in his Second Season here. When did you first find out about the japanese keirin and what was it about it that made you want to come out here . Yeah, so i think ive been a bit obsessed with japanese keirin since i started track sprinting really when i was about 15. Since then i have been obsessed with the culture and i have always had a bit of an affinity with japan i think and when the ticket came for me to have the opportunity to come here, i grasped it. Came out. First year took a little bit of getting used to, a bit of a Culture Shock at the start, chopsticks, the way you eat food and taking your shoes off. Yeah, i think this year ive really adjusted well and i love it. I came out here when i was 29 and i kind of struggled a little bit with the lack of team support. You are very much an individual. How do you deal with that when you went in and you didnt have a coach to discuss tactics . It was just you on your own with eight other riders who didnt speak the same language as you. It was a little bit of a shock to start with because i came straight from the Commonwealth Games in brisbane, straight to here and you went from a big Team Environment straight into a small apartment in izu on my own. It was a bit of a sudden change but i think youve got to embrace it really. I took a lot of advice from the older riders. For me, the first race ijust enjoyed it, getting to know the culture and the traditions. Then later on in the race, when bigger races came, i could then perform better. Being a rider here is rewarding but demanding. You only need to look at the training hill. Riders are expected to race up the slope which is as steep as any i have experienced in the uk. I couldnt resist revisiting it. This is a pretty unusual training venue. Yes, it is certainly unique to the japan Keirin School. Give it a little race up there, see how it goes. Start gate here, lanes all the way to the bottom of the hill, its one in three, isnt it . Im not sure exactly, i think 40 of it. Takes the speed straightaway. Have you done it before . Never all the way up, halfway, yeah. Well see how it goes. Ready . Ill do the call. Five, four, three. Go you got me its good training. You can see why theyve got it, cant you . You never really get the cadence high enough to sit on it. You have to keep going. Geez. Im definitely not the toughest competitionjoe has faced this season. A sterner test awaited him in the final race of the year. This is all right, isnt it . As commutes go, this is pretty cool. I spend a lot of time here, its not uncomfy, theres a lot of space. Very fast, its a nice way to travel. How do you get your bikes from place to place . Track to track, we just send it via mail. It usually takes two days to arrive so we go track to track to track. We never really see our bikes, they are always in transport or out on the road. Today is inspection day. Getting our bikes checked, our helmet checked, our shoes and everything, declaring our tactics for the day one race. After every race we pack into this box, ship it straightaway to the next race. It usually comes pretty deconstructed. We spend 20 minutes or so setting up. We have to do this all ourselves, unlike international, the onus is on us to do this so you get to know a bit more mechanical personally. Before i didnt even know how to remove a crank so now ive learnt how to do that. The bikes are all built to a very strict specification and you look at that and think thats just a steel bike from back in the 1980s, and really nothing has changed. They have made sure the wheels, the tires, the gearing system, everything is exactly the same for everybody. They want to keep it as equal and fair as possible for everybody. There are some things that literally havent changed since the 1950s. Everyone has to get checked by four different stations, one for tyres, one for chain, cranks, everything, everything gets checked. It is an important part of it because the betters put a lot of money on us so we dont want a bad result because of equipment. They put a huge amount of emphasis on it. Keirin isa keirin is a fiercely competitive tactical battle in which riders can end up in a heap on the tarmac. Unique to the japanese keirin all riders must declare their tactics in advance of the race. This is the armour eyewear. Whenever i am doing armour eyewear. Whenever i am doing a race and they say beforehand, i wear this armour. It is a bit of kevlar in case i crash. I always find you could get a nasty block. There was apologise for it afterwards. I had some blocks, i think after the third one. I was in the zone, i was trying to get past him. Respect to such a big part. The zone, i was trying to get past him. Respect to such a big partlj remember one race | him. Respect to such a big partlj remember one race i let out and i won the race, the guy got second, he was delighted, he came over with a pairof grips. Was delighted, he came over with a pair of grips. They love giving presents as well. I have got a box full of presents. I have got gloves, tires get reused all the time. You win the race, you hand out water to your competitors to say thank you. For making a good race to yourself. Some pretty fancy footwear behind me here. They are basically warm up clogs. They are a bizarre unique thing to the japanese keirin. I am not actually sure what they do but they make you look taller ks exhibit that gives you a bit of confidence, who knows . You can see on the back ofjoes jersey, the twisted who knows . You can see on the back ofjoesjersey, the twisted bunched up ofjoesjersey, the twisted bunched up bits, the elastic band they used to pull in the material i make it more aerodynamic. It is up to you how much you tuck them in and make them as tight as possible. The contrast between the old and the new. We have got the sign from the 2005 International Japanese keirin, there is myself there and all the boys that came with us. Over an intense weekend of racing riders are int allowed any contact with the outside world. They surrendered their mobile phones and sleep in a simple traditional dormitory attached to the stadium. It all makes for a pressurised atmosphere. Just in the distance, you can see a doorway into a room. That is the holding area before you go to your race, it looks a bit like a doctors waiting surgery. There is Brown Leather seats which i think are probably the same ones from 15 years ago. It doesnt look like it has changed. You go in there, sit on the appropriate seat based on your race numberand appropriate seat based on your race number and there is no one else in there with you. No coach or support team, no one to give advice or talk to you. No one speaks english. Some of the guys will sitting there and glare at you, some will talk to you in japanese, some talk glare at you, some will talk to you injapanese, some talk to themselves, some are shouting, it is one of the most intimidating environments i have been in in a racing context. It is unlike anything i have ever been to. What was your initial thought when you went into the holding room . I remember the feeling it was quite an intimidating environment and not knowing what was going on. The first race i was in was a final and the quy race i was in was a final and the guy had to smelling salts up his nose, with a bandanna, staring at me straight in the eyes. He did give me a big block in the race as well, maybe psyching himself up as well. Blow a kiss. Im going to give you a one minute warning, you get called one minute warning, you get called on everyone stands up. You start shouting, sometimes they pick up salt and throw it on your bike to bless their bikes and give it good luck. It is just a bless their bikes and give it good luck. It isjust a unique experience, there is nowhere else in the world of race that is like japan. As the nerve spells and the as the nerves built in the writers room, anticipation grows in the stadium. Fans all around will be watching and placing bets. Keirin is only one of four sports in which it is legal to bet injapan. It is big business and one that punters take very seriously. Here is a list of the runners and riders of todays race. Get the chance to see what those odds are. They come up year on the study the form than the guy at the study the form than the guy at the front who is a former keirin professional, he will explain the tactics to the riders, what they will be, you have to declare in the race before you start. They are taking it all in, writing information, they are trying to form the most educated guess as possible to try and place their bet on the quy to try and place their bet on the guy they think is going to win based on science and based on the previous form. Another nice feature coming into matsudo is a night race. Lights come on, bit of atmosphere. It is getting quite busy. There is a beer festival behind so some fans are getting more into it, shall we say. I remember losing if a couple of races here and the crowd tell you to go home. Plus similar words which they learnt in english, which i cant repeat. Officials are sweeping up cant repeat. Officials are sweeping up after the crash in the previous race and it is a reminder ofjust a physical and dangerous the sport can be. Joe is about to come out for the final, the nerves are about to be felt in the stadium. So much build up. This is the moment they are waiting for. Joe was joined in the final by fellow International RiderDennis Dimitri of. The russian wearing number seven had declared his tactics would be to lead once the pace had dropped out. Joe would try to grab a second wheel and had straight for the win from there. The red and the purple are the risks, and the guys in the white and the blue will be sweeping and blocking. As soon as the peso comes off, i think dennis is going to try and ta ke think dennis is going to try and take the front. The guy in green is going to dry and outright to take the front. He is so much stronger. That is it. Oh no go on, joe he is all right, he is all right. Perfect, this is perfect. This is a long lead out. Go on, joe he is going to have to go soon. Perfect. This is perfect. Yes beautiful. Awesome. Yes that was an absolutely textbook race. That was perfect. When he launched his sprint, you could see the gap at the end he had there. That was phenomenal. Keirin is export which embodies the traditions of japan export which embodies the traditions ofjapan and export which embodies the traditions of japan and some export which embodies the traditions ofjapan and some of its quirks. A unique sporting events the japanese have given the cycling world. I only came second so i have given the cycling world. I only came second so i never have given the cycling world. I only came second so i never got to see this. It is quite a bizarre ceremony. Japans passionate cycling fa ns ceremony. Japans passionate cycling fans have to wait another year until they can pack the big velodrome, but one thing is for certain, when the keirin riders finally push out the blocks, it is going to be one of the most exciting places at the olympics. He has got long legs, i tell you. Its a nice bike this, actually. Well done, mate. Great performance, topjob. Happy with that. Hello, by the end of this easter weekend things will be much colder across the uk. Before then, we are holding on to some more sunshine for many. Most will be dry but with an increasing chance of seeing heavy and Thunder Showers across parts of midland and wales. Temperatures, 2025dc. Midland and wales. Temperatures, 20 25dc. Mid midland and wales. Temperatures, 2025dc. Mid to midland and wales. Temperatures, 20 25dc. Mid to high teens for scotla nd 20 25dc. Mid to high teens for scotland and Northern Ireland, somewhat cooler in the northern and western isles. Cloud will be increasing across scotland and Northern Ireland later this afternoon, that process continuing overnight and patchy rain in places. Clear skies crossing the wales but we could see mist and fog developing, especially where we have had any daytime showers and temperatures overnight generally in the range of 4 8dc. Easter sunday, High Pressure drifting eastwards, this frontal system pushing its way across the uk bringing cloud, outbreaks of rain but also the potential for some heavy and thundery showers. A bit of a split tomorrow. Let start with Northern Ireland and scotland, more cloud, some outbreaks of rain. Spells of sunshine behind us but also cloud and patchy rain moving into the north of scotland. Across england and wales, spells of sunshine, and a chance of heavy Thunder Showers developing through the day, bring quite a lot of rain injust a short amount of time. Temperatures holding up amount of time. Temperatures holding up to 2a, maybe 25 celsius across parts of east anglia in south east england but turning coolerfrom parts of east anglia in south east england but turning cooler from the north and west. That process continues as we go into easter monday. A weakening front slides we start to drop our air in from the north east. A cold direction, the blue colours, the colder air, replacing the warm air. A real change in the way the weather feels on bank holiday monday. It will be dry, there will be spells of sunshine, the best which will be further west. More cloud down the eastern coast and a strengthening north easterly breeze. It is going to feel much colder. Gusty winds down the eastern coast and the channel coast, it could touch 40 50 mph and temperatures for some struggling to get into double figures. It could feel very much colder and monday and on the strength of the wind, it is going to feel even colder still. Through next week, things are looking mainly dry. After that chilly start, frosty night, temperature slowly recovering through the week. The chance of them showers developing by next weekend. Goodbye. This is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. As the death figure in the uk rises by 917 doctors are warning theyre still not getting the protective equipment they need to treat patients with coronavirus. The government must make sure that it delivers the equipment, which it says it has, to the front line. This is not about plans are what will happen ina is not about plans are what will happen in a week but my time, it needs to happen now. Going from a business as usual, normal, relatively low level of ppe distribution to the unprecedented use of it now has been a big challenge and we have still got work to do. Number ten say the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, is making very Good Progress in his