British Cycling names World Championships team

British Cycling has this morning announced the team that will represent Great Britain at the UCI Road World Championships which take place in Melbourne, Australia from 29 September to 3 October 2010, and as reported on road.cc yesterday, Mark Cavendish will be supported in his efforts to win the men’s elite road race by Cervélo TestTeam’s Jeremy Hunt and the current British champion, Team Sky’s Geraint Thomas.

Meanwhile, David Millar, who won the time trial at the 2003 World Championships in Hamilton, Canada, only to be stripped of his title after confessing to having used EPO – the Scot is now a leading voice in the fight against doping – will be Great Britain’s sole representative in that event.

The country has a strong presence in the women’s road race, including Olympic and former world champion Nicole Cooke plus current national champion Emma Pooley and under-23 national champion Lizzie Armistead.

The latter pair, both of whom ride for Cervélo TestTeam, have put in some impressive performances this year, with Armistead’s successes including the best young rider classification at the Giro Donne, while Pooley has won the Flèche Wallonne, plus the overall titles in the Tour de l’Aude and the Giro del Trentino.

In the men’s under-23 events, Alex Dowsett of Trek-Livestrong, the current European under-23 time trial champion, represents Great Britain both in that event and in the road race.

British Cycling’s Performance Director Dave Brailsford said: “It’s no surprise that we’ve built the men’s road team around Mark this year, and both Mark and the coaching staff believe that, of the pool of talent we had to choose from, Geraint and Jeremy would provide the best support to Mark on this course.”

He continued: “The women’s team is looking strong this year and there are a few medal contenders in there, which puts us in a good position as we can see nearer the time which rider the team will support. I’m really pleased to see Academy riders Lucy Martin and Katie Colclough back on form after their accident in Belgium earlier this year.”

The full squad is shown below.

Elite Men’s Road Race
Mark Cavendish
Jeremy Hunt
Geraint Thomas

Elite Men’s Time Trial
David Millar

Elite Women’s Road Race
Lizzie Armitstead
Katie Colclough
Nicole Cooke
Sharon Laws
Lucy Martin
Emma Pooley
Catherine Williamson

Elite Women’s Time Trial (four nominated, two to ride)
Nicole Cooke
Sharon Laws
Emma Pooley
Emma Trott

Under 23 Men’s Road Race
Alex Dowsett
Andy Fenn
Jonny McEvoy
Luke Rowe

Under 23 Men’s Time Trial
Alex Dowsett