Team GB will field a young squad in the third round of the UCI Track World Cup in Bejing next week.
Medallists from last year’s European track championships feature among the riders being given senior debuts ahead of April’s World Track Championships in Melbourne.
Welshman, Owain Doull, a member of the gold medal winning junior pursuit team, and U23 team sprint silver medallists, Phillip Hindes, Peter Mitchell, and Callum Skinner, will all make the step to senior level.
Performance Director Dave Brailsford, said Beijing would provide a valuable testing ground for young riders while resting Team GB’s medal contenders.
“Beijing is a great opportunity for the young riders to gain competition experience at elite level, whilst allowing for our Podium athletes to focus on the next round of the World Cup in London, before travelling to Australia for the World Championships.”
Twenty-year-old Becky James is a comparatively senior member of the squad selected for Beijing, having competed in the opening round of the World Cup in Astana last October. The Welsh sprinter, paired with Jess Varnish, narrowly missed a bronze medal in the women’s team sprint, and finished ninth in the individual sprint.
The meeting in Beijing will represent the half-way point in the 2011/12 UCI Track World Cup. The fourth and final round will be held at London’s new velodrome from February 17 to 19, where Team GB is expected to field a full-strength line-up in the men’s team pursuit, that could include Team Sky’s Geraint Thomas.
Team GB rider line-up for UCI Track World Cup Round 3, Beijing, China, January 13-15.
Male Endurance:
George Atkins
Mark Christian
Owain Doull
Sam Harrison
Joe Kelly
Simon Yates
Male Sprint:
Phillip Hindes
Peter Mitchell
Callum Skinner
Female Sprint:
Becky James
Victoria Williamson
