British Cycling have named Commonwealth Games gold medallists Geraint Thomas and Lizzie Armitstead on their longlists for the UCI Road World Championships – but 2011 world road race champion, Mark Cavendish, is not.
The Championships take place in Ponferrada, Spain, from September 21 to September 28 and British Cycling – who won silver in the men’s time trial last time out thanks to Sir Bradley Wiggins – have a strong field of riders to choose from.
Thomas and Wiggins are joined by five Team Sky team-mates in the men’s longlist, while Armitstead tops a versatile women’s squad for the respective road races.
British time trial champion Wiggins is one of four riders bidding for the two spots in the men’s time trial, meanwhile, while a host of promising young riders will hope for selection for the under-23 and junior races.
Thomas, Wiggins, British champion Pete Kennaugh – tipped to be a future world champion by Rod Ellingworth – Chris Froome, Luke Rowe, Ian Stannard and Ben Swift all make the longlist from Team Sky.
For clarification, I requested NOT to be considered for this years World Champs, With the current GB riders, there's better guys for the job
— Mark Cavendish (@MarkCavendish) September 4, 2014
Orica-GreenEDGE duo Adam and Simon Yates are also in contention for a place, alongside Steve Cummings (BMC Racing), Alex Dowsett (Movistar) and Andy Fenn (Omega Pharma-Quickstep).
Scottish veteran David Millar (Garmin-Sharp) is also on the longlist, for what would be his final World Championships, while Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Scott Thwaites (Team NetApp-Endura) is the only non-WorldTour rider on the senior men’s longlist.
Former world champion Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) is not selected, however, with British Cycling set to cut down the list to eight riders for the men’s race.
Two of Wiggins, Thomas, Cummings and Dowsett will contest the time trial.
In the women’s road race, meanwhile, Armitstead could be joined by mountain bike stars Annie Last and Alice Barnes and cyclo-cross ace Nikki Harris as they look to provide strong backing on the hilly course.
Hannah Barnes and Lucy Garner, who rode in support of Armitstead as she won Commonwealth Games gold, are also in contention for a place in the six-strong squad, alongside Lucy Coldwell, Sharon Laws and Anna Christian.
A strong longlist has also been announced for the under-23 men’s road race, with rising Welsh star Scott Davies (Madison-Genesis) and Tour de l’Avenir stage winner Dan McLay (Lotto Belisol under-23) among those selected.
Tour de Korea winner Hugh Carthy and Rapha Condor JLT team-mate Tom Moses are also in contention for a place in the five-man squad, alongside Owain Doull, Tao Geoghegan Hart, Dan Pearson and Tour of the Reservoir winner Alex Peters.
British under-23 time trial winner Davies will compete against the clock meanwhile, as will Jon Dibben.
The British squad for the Championships is completed by a junior line-up which includes Megan Barker and Grace Garner.
The two will hope to follow in the footsteps of their sisters Elinor and Lucy, respectively, who have won junior world titles in the past.
Coach Shane Sutton said of the selection: “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.”
The final selection for the UCI Road World Championships will be announced in due course.
Great Britain longlist for the 2014 UCI Road World Championships
Men’s elite road race (eight places qualified)
Steve Cummings (BMC Racing)
Alex Dowsett (Movistar)
Andy Fenn (Omega Pharma-Quickstep)
Chris Froome (Team Sky)
Pete Kennaugh (Team Sky)
David Millar (Garmin-Sharp)
Luke Rowe (Team Sky)
Ian Stannard (Team Sky)
Ben Swift (Team Sky)
Geraint Thomas (Team Sky)
Scott Thwaites (Team NetApp-Endura)
Sir Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky)
Adam Yates (Orica-GreenEDGE)
Simon Yates (Orica-GreenEDGE)
Men’s elite time trial (two places qualified)
Alex Dowsett (Movistar)
Steve Cummings (BMC Racing)
Geraint Thomas (Team Sky)
Sir Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky)
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
Men’s U23 road race (five places qualified)
Hugh Carthy (Rapha Condor JLT)
Scott Davies (Madison-Genesis)
Owain Doull (AN Post-Chain Reaction)
Tao Geoghegan Hart (Bissell Development Team)
Dan McLay (Lotto Belisol Juniors)
Tom Moses (Rapha Condor JLT)
Dan Pearson (Great Britain)
Alex Peters (Madison-Genesis)
Men’s U23 time trial
Scott Davies (Madison-Genesis)
Jon Dibben (Great Britain)
Junior men’s road race
Gabriel Cullaigh
Nathan Draper
Matt Gibson (plus ITT)
James Shaw
Steve Williams
Junior women’s road race
Megan Barker
Grace Garner (plus ITT)
Beth Hayward
Mel Lowther (plus ITT)
