The curtain has come down on track cycling at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and attention will now turn to the road, starting with Thursday’s individual time trial.
The men’s race (12:30pm-3:20pm) will be contested over a 40km circuit, while the women’s event (10am-11:30am) will follow a 30km loop, with both tests starting and finishing at Glasgow Green, and taking in the rolling countryside of East Dunbartonshire and North Lanarkshire, as well as the city’s East End.
One key name is missing from the start sheet of the men’s time trial, with Sir Bradley Wiggins opting to focus on the track, subsequently winning silver in the team pursuit, but a keenly-contested race is expected with Alex Dowsett, Geraint Thomas and David Millar the leading riders for England, Wales and Scotland respectively, while a trio of Australian riders will hope to upset the odds.
Meanwhile, Emma Pooley, recently crowned the British national champion for a third time, will fly the flag for Team England in her last-but-one ride before retirement, with Katie Archibald and Elinor Barker swapping the British jerseys in which they have enjoyed so much recent success on the track, for those of Scotland and Wales respectively. However, all three will have to overhaul New Zealand’s Linda Villumsen if they are to stand on the top step of the podium.
We’ll take a closer look at the form book for each of the leading riders in the men’s and women’s races over the following pages.
