2012/13 Tour de France winners Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome have been named in the GB longlist of 11 for the UCI Road World Championships, which begins September 22 in Toscana, Italy. Froome is set to lead the Men’s Elite Road team with Wiggins confirmed for the Time Trial, a solid choice given his Olympic gold in the event. Lizzie Armitstead and Lucy Garner – the Junior Road World Champion making her senior debut – are confirmed for the Women’s Road Race with Emma Pooley, the 2010 World Champion, set for the Time Trial.
Performance Manager Shane Sutton said of the squad selection: ‘I think the selection of the elite teams speak for themselves, we’ve got Olympic medallists, Tour de France winners and former world champions all in the mix and I think we could do well across the board there.’ Commenting on the inclusion of Adam and Simon Yates (both with solid performances at the Tour de l’Avenir; Simon taking two stages and Adam second overall) in the U23 Men’s Road Race Sutton added: ‘The Yates brothers have put some really impressive rides in on the road this season so I’m looking forward to seeing what they can do…’
The final selections for the UCI Road World Championships is expected to be announced shortly, but currently the longlists reads:
Men’s Elite Road Race – 8 places available: Mark Cavendish, Steve Cummings, Alex Dowsett, Josh Edmondson, Andy Fenn, Chris Froome, Luke Rowe, Ian Stannard, Geraint Thomas, Jon Tiernan Locke, Bradley Wiggins
Men’s Elite Time Trial: Alex Dowsett, Bradley Wiggins
Women’s Elite Road Race – 6 places available: Lizzie Armitstead, Katie Colclough, Nikki Harris, Lucy Garner, Sharon Laws, Emma Pooley
Women’s Elite Time Trial: Emma Pooley
U23 Men’s Road Race – 6 places available: Jon Dibben, Owain Doull, Tom Moses, Joe Perrett, Alex Peters, Alistair Slater, Adam Yates, Simon Yates
U23 Men’s Time Trial: Joe Perrett
Junior Men’s Road Race: Scott Davies, Tao Geoghegan Hart, Matt Gibson, James Knox
Junior Men’s Time Trial: Matt Gibson
Junior Women’s Road Race: Anna Christian, Bethany Hayward
For a full schedule of the UCI Road World Championships see britishcycling.org.uk
