British Cycling announces long list for UCI Road World Championships

British Cycling has announced its long list of riders who are in the running to compete for Great Britain at the UCI Road World Championships at Ponferrada in Spain later this month.

Included in the men’s road race squad is a strong Team Sky contingent including current national champion Peter Kennaugh, Tour de France winners Chris Froome and Sir Bradley Wiggins, and Geraint Thomas, winner of the road race at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow last month.

Also making the list is Garmin-Sharp’s David Millar, who acted as road captain to Great Britain when Mark Cavendish took the rainbow jersey in Copenhagen in 2011, plus just one rider from outside the WorldTour, NetApp-Endura’s Scott Thwaites, who finished third behind Thomas in Glasgow.

On a 254.8km route course that comprises 14 laps of a rolling circuit with more than 4,200 metres of climbing, riders such as twin brothers Simon and Adam Yates of Orica-GreenEdge could also prove valuable to Great Britain should they make the final selection.

The men’s road race takes place on Sunday 28 September, and three days earlier Wiggins is targeting the time trial, where Movistar’s Alex Dowsett, a former Giro d’Italia stage winner and reigning Commonwealth champion is likely to be the other rider selected to race for the country, although Thomas and BMC Racing’s Steve Cummings are also on the long list.

The women’s road race squad includes Commonwealth champion Lizzie Armitstead of Boels-Dolmans, who is already assured of overall victory in the UCI Women Road World Cup for this season, plus two-time junior world champion Lucy Garner of Giant-Shimano.

None of Wiggle-Honda’s trio of Olympic track gold medallists – current British road champion Laura Trott, Dani King and Joanna Rowsell – are in the squad, possibly due to their focusing on the forthcoming track season, and no British women are entered in the elite time trial.

British Cycling technical director Shane Sutton said: “I’m pleased with the long-list of riders we have selected for the UCI Road World Championships, and we’re fortunate to have a strong pool of riders from which to make our final selection.

“It’s good to see Annie Last and Alice Barnes from the Olympic mountain bike squad named on the long-list as they could both prove to be assets to Lizzie given the hilly nature of the course, and it shows how we’re developing riders on the Programmes,” he added.

The final selection will be announced closer to the start of the championships on 21 September.

Men’s Elite Road Race – eight places qualified

Steve Cummings
Alex Dowsett
Andy Fenn
Chris Froome
Pete Kennaugh
David Millar
Luke Rowe
Ian Stannard
Ben Swift
Geraint Thomas
Scott Thwaites
Sir Bradley Wiggins
Adam Yates
Simon Yates

Men’s Elite Time Trial – two places qualified

Alex Dowsett
Steve Cummings
Geraint Thomas
Sir Bradley Wiggins

Women’s Elite Road Race – six places qualified

Lizzie Armitstead
Alice Barnes
Hannah Barnes
Anna Christian
Lucy Coldwell
Lucy Garner
Nikki Harris
Annie Last
Sharon Laws

U23 Men’s Road Race – five places qualified

Hugh Carthy
Scott Davies
Owain Doull
Tao Geoghegan Hart
Dan McLay
Tom Moses
Dan Pearson
Alex Peters

U23 Men’s Time Trial

Scott Davies
Jon Dibben

Junior Men’s Road Race

Gabriel Cullaigh
Nathan Draper
Matt Gibson
James Shaw
Steve Williams

Junior Men’s Time Trial

Matt Gibson

Junior Women’s Road Race

Megan Barker
Grace Garner
Beth Hayward
Mel Lowther

Junior Women’s Time Trial

Grace Garner
Mel Lowther