"I knew it was difficult but not that so much would be involved," said Jager.

Theo Bos of the Netherlands competes in the men's sprint qualifying on the second day of competition at the track cycling world championships in Manchester, northern England, March 27, 2008. [Agencies]

The result is a racing bike with a sleek, aerodynamic look.

Named Kimera after Chimera, the part-lion, part-goat and part-serpent Greek mythological creature, the bike has an inverted handlebar shaped like a charging ram. It has a jutting saddle, a front wheel with just four thick spokes and a solid back wheel.

Koga says it has the lowest air resistance of any bike in the world, to help the rider accelerate as quickly as possible from a standstill to its top speed of 75 kph.

"We over-designed on the stiffness, normal people cannot ride on it," said Jager.

THREE GOLDS

Riding an earlier prototype of the Kimera, the Dutch track team took three gold medals at the Manchester world championships. The entire team will be competing on the latest Kimera in Beijing.

Cycling is the most widely used form of transport in the Netherlands due to the country's flat landscape and network of dedicated cycle paths, with Dutch cyclists consistently among the top performers in major championships.

With 16.4 million people, the Netherlands is home to 18 million bikes. The Dutch bike industry made 967,000 bikes worth 453 million euros in 2006, two-thirds of which were sold abroad, according to official data.

Koga said it would be able to produce the Kimera for the mass market after the Beijing Olympics. And the price? A mere 10,000 euros or thereabouts, said Jager.