Team Sky’s Vuelta stars picked to support Cavendish; Armitstead, Cooke and Pooley lead women’s line up
Great Britain has picked arguably its strongest ever team for the World championships in Copenhagen, Denmark, later in the month. With the flattest course in a number of years, the road races are expected to end in a sprint; the elite men’s team is built around ‘fastest man on two wheels’ Mark Cavendish (HTC-Columbia), while the women’s team is also full of sprint talent, including British champion Lizzie Armitstead (Garmin-Cervélo) and 2008 World and Olympic champion Nicole Cooke (MCipollini-Giambenini).
Behind Cavendish is a team made up almost entirely of riders from Team Sky, which Cavendish is widely expected to be joining next year, with the one exception being Garmin-Cervélo’s David Millar. Cavendish’s usual lead out man at HTC-Highroad is Australian Mark Renshaw – who has controversially been overlooked for selection by his own national team – so the job will likely be taken by Welshman Geraint Thomas, who has been performing the role for Sky’s Norwegian Sprinter Edvald Boasson Hagen.
Both Vuelta podium finishers, Chris Froome and Bradley Wiggins, make the team and, while the course will likely not suit the characteristics of either, both have proved highly capable of performing the task of super-domestique.
Millar and Wiggins will both also ride the time trial.
In the women’s team Armitstead and Cooke will likely be the protected riders although Emma Pooley (Garmin-Cervélo) is almost certain to be given a free reign with her ability to win from long, solo breaks. Where the men’s team is dominated by Team Sky, four of the seven women are from Garmin-Cervélo.
Elite Men’s Road Race:
Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad), Steve Cummings, Chris Froome, Jeremy Hunt, Ian Stannard, Geraint Thomas, Bradley Wiggins (all Team Sky) and David Millar (Garmin-Cervélo)
Elite Men’s Time Trial:
David Millar, Bradley Wiggins
Elite Women’s Road Race:
Lizzie Armitstead, Sharon Laws, Lucy Martin, Emma Pooley (all Garmin-Cervélo), Katie Colclough (HTC-Highroad), Nicole Cooke (MCipollini-Giambenini) and Catherine Williamson (Team Bizhub)
Elite Women’s Time Trial:
Emma Pooley
U23 Men’s Road Race
Mark Christian, Andy Fenn, Luke Rowe, Erick Rowsell, Scott Thwaites, Simon Yates
U23 Men’s Time Trial
Mark Christian
Junior Men’s Road Race
Owain Doull, Jon Dibben, Matthew Holmes, Sam Lowe, Alistair Slater
Junior Men’s Time Trial
Owain Doull, Jon Dibben
Junior Women’s Road Race
Elinor Baker, Hannah Barnes, Lucy Garner, Amy Roberts
Junior Women’s Time Trial
Elinor Barker, Hannah Barnes