Cavendish and Hayter Included for Road World Championships
Mark Cavendish, Ethan Hayter and Lizzie Deignan are among the 30-strong camp who will lead Great Britain at this year’s UCI Road World Championships.
Taking place in Flanders, Belgium, the championships get under way on the 19th September and run right the way through to the following Sunday on the 26th.
There are several notable inclusions to the British team, namely Tom Piddock who won gold in the mountain biking at the Tokyo Olympics, and he will be hoping to add to his U23 bronze medal in this exact competition back in 2019.
Elsewhere Ethan Hayter, who narrowly missed out on the Tour of Britain title in the final stage, will be looking to keep his momentum rolling into the championships. The 22-year-old has shown his prowess on the WorldTour this year, picking up impressive stage wins in Portugal and Italy, while also winning the Tour of Norway back in August. There is still lots to come for the promising young rider, and he will certainly fancy his chances in Belgium in the coming weeks.
At the other end of the spectrum, veteran sprinter Mark Cavendish, who won the Road World Championships in 2011, also finds himself in resurgent form after a rocky few years on the tour. The 36-year-old claimed the green jersey and four stage wins at this year’s Tour de France, and will likely play a road captaincy role. There was no room for 2018 Tour de France winner Geraint Thomas, who has struggled with form since dislocating his shoulder back in July.
As for the women’s events, Tour de Suisse champion Lizzie Deignan leads a strong cohort; the 32-year-old won the Road World Championships back in 2015, and will be looking to bounce back after a disappointing end to the Olympic road race in Tokyo.
Fellow Team GB rider Anna Shackley, who is just 20, will also compete in the road race, alongside two other riders who are younger than 22 in Anna Hendersen and Pfeiffer Georgi. Alice Barnes and Joss Lowden have also made the cut for the road race.
Lowden and Georgi will also be competing in the time trial , while Ethan Hayter and Daniel Bigham will be representing Great Britain in the men’s event.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSrR7yBGYMU
Great Britain Performance Director Stephen Park said: “I’m really looking forward to the Road World Championships this year, as we have some serious medal contenders within the squad in every category.
“The Road World Championships are a key feature for the Great Britain Cycling Team’s road squad and it will be great to see the likes of Mark and Lizzie bring their form and experience into a team keen to do the jersey proud and bring back medals.
“It will be interesting to see how the elite men’s road race plays out, too – based on what we know about the course and with so many riders in top form, we’ve made the decision not to go with one team leader, giving us a number of options as the race plays out.”
