Youth will take on experience amongst the British ranks in both the Individual Pursuit and Team Pursuit at the Manchester World Cup between the 9th and the 11th December with all the Brits facing world class international opposition in what is set to be a thrilling Pursuit contest.

In the Team Pursuit the British squad of Andy Tennant, Geraint Thomas, Ross Sander and Ian Stannard will take on World Team Pursuit Champions Rob Hayles, Chris Newton and Paul Manning who will be joined by Madison World Champion Mark Cavendish in the Recycling.co.uk team. They will face tough international opposition especially from the Dutch squad of Heimans, Mouris, Schep and Terpstra who came second to Great Britain at the World Championships and the New Zealand team of Allen, Gudsell, Latham and Ryan who came fourth behind Australia.

With a strong eastern European contingent including teams from Russia, the Ukraine, Poland and the Russian trade team Omnibike Dynamo Moscow and powerful squads from France, Germany, Denmark, Spain and Iran the competition for podium places will be intense.

In the individual pursuit Swedish road star Magnus Backstedt has confirmed that he will ride. The 2004 Paris-Roubaix winner has been spending more time on the track recently and whilst not putting any pressure on himself he should still pose an interesting threat to the main contenders,

“This is not a switch from the road just merely making the most of the abilities that I have. The pursuit is an obvious choice and hopefully will inspire more Swedish riders to take up track racing. This first outing is a fact finding mission and I am not putting any pressure on myself. I’ll also ride the points and scratch race as part of my research, I’m on un-chartered territory here”.

Backstedt will face world class opposition from the likes of World Championship bronze medallist Levi Heimans, Carlos Castano Panadero from Spain, Volodymyr Dyudya from the Ukraine and Marc Ryan from New Zealand; not to mention British pursuit specialists Paul Manning and Rob Hayles who will be looking for podium places on home soil,

“It’s always good to get on the podium in front of the home crowd”, commented Hayles. “I’ve been racing lots of six days this season so it will be interesting to see how I go. It’s a strong field but in front of the home crowd you always give it that little bit extra.”

Other British hopes will lie with Junior World Champion Andy Tennant and emerging star Ed Clancy who will be looking to make their mark at championship level. Tennant rode well to finish 9th at the Moscow World Cup and hopes to improve on this performance in front of the Manchester crowd,

“I’m feeling really good and just back from Ghent six where I had strong legs so I’m definitely looking to improve on my ride from Moscow. I’m not sure what time going for yet, I’ll be working on that this week but the home crowd should spur me on so I’ll be aiming for a good performance”.

The Individual Pursuit final will take place on Friday 9th December with the Team Pursuit on Saturday the 10th.

Tickets and full details of the race programme from each day at the UCI World Cup are available at www.worldtrackcycling.com or by calling 01372 464 666

Tickets
Tickets are available in both standard and premium seating. Standard – is for unreserved seating. Premium – is for reserved, numbered seating in the home straight (Block N) and the back straight (Block E).

1-Day Premium: Adult £18 – Child £9
1-Day Standard: Adult £12 – Child £6

2-Day Premium: Adult £32 – Child £16
2-Day Standard: Adult £20 – Child £10

3-Day Premium: Adult £45 – Child £22
3-Day Standard: Adult £30 – Child £15

UCI World Cup – Manchester
December 9th – 11th 2005
Manchester Velodrome – National Cycling Centre – Stuart Street – Manchester – M11 4DQ

Race Programme
Friday 9th December
13.00 – 16.55: Qualifying Session
18.20 – 21.50: Evening Session and Finals
Men – Scratch Race Final (15km)
Women – Points Race Final (20km)
Men – Keirin Final
Men – Individual Pursuit Final
Women – Sprint Final
Men – Kilometer Final

Saturday 10th December
08:45 – 13.10: Qualifying Session
13:15 – 16:15: Afternoon Session and Finals
Men – Team Pursuit Final
Women – 500m Time Trial Final
Women – Individual Pursuit Final
Men – Sprint Final
Men – Points Race Final (30km)

Sunday 11th December
10:00 – 11:40: Qualifying Session
11:45 – 15:30: Afternoon Session and Finals
Women – Scratch Race Final (10km)
Men – Madison Final (40km)
Women – Keirin Final
Men – Team Sprint Final
Men – JKA Japanese Keirin Final