By Gareth James
Geraint Thomas will spearhead a Welsh contingent of nine riders named in the extended Great Britain squads for the Cycling Road World Championships in Glasgow.
Wales’ former Tour der France winner Thomas is joined by Owain Doull, Luke Rowe, Josh Tarling, Ethan Vernon, Elynor Backstedt, Elinor Barker, Carys Lloyd and Luke Jones for the road and para road events that take place between August 3 to 13.
The road and time-trial events form part of an 11-day programme of 13 world championship events taking place in Glasgow and across Scotland, from 3-13 August, with 8,000 riders competing and 190 UCI World Champions to be crowned.
The para-road events will take place in Dumfries and Galloway from 9-13 August, while the road events will take place across the duration of the event, with starts and finishes in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Stirling and Loch Lomond.
Thomas has been selected to lead the elite men’s road squad, competing in the time-trial, with teammates including newly-crowned national road race champion Fred Wright, Ben Swift and 2011 road race world champion Mark Cavendish also named.
Also long-listed to compete in the elite men’s events are INEOS Grenadiers’ Ethan Hayter, Rowe, Connor Swift, Ben Turner and Ben Tulett, Groupama-FDJ rider Jake Stewart and Doull of EF-Education EasyPost.
Riders selected to make their elite world championships debut include Sam Watson, James Shaw, Lewis Askey, Dan McLay, Mark Stewart, Vernon and Sean Flynn.
Geraint Thomas is in the British squad for the Road World Championships! 🇬🇧
Owain Doull, Luke Rowe, Josh Tarling, Elynor Backstedt and Elinor Barker are also included in the squad 🚴♂️ #BBCCycling
— BBC Sport Wales (@BBCSportWales) July 10, 2023
Riders contesting the under-23 men’s races include Lukas Nerurkar, who took a recent stage win at the Orlens Nations Cup.
Ones to watch from the junior line-up include Tomos Pattinson who has seen recent success taking third place in the Saarlands nations cup, and the junior national championships time-trial.
The 2015 women’s road race world champion Lizzie Deignan has been selected to return to the world championships after giving birth to her second child last September. She will be joined by last year’s world under-23 road race silver medallist, Pfeiffer Georgi, who will be heading to Glasgow for her first elite level world championships, having recently been crowned the British national champion for a second time.
The under-23 women’s national road race champion Anna Shackley, Backstedt and Alice Towers have been selected to contest the under-23 women’s title, while Claire Steels and Rebecca Storrie will be making their elite world championships debuts.
In the junior women’s events, Izzy Sharp will be contesting the time-trial, while junior Tour of Flanders winner Cat Ferguson will be vying for her first rainbow jersey.
A final starting list will be drawn from the long list closer to each event, bearing in mind rider condition, impact of ongoing racing and injury. The elite men’s squad will be cut down to eight road riders and two time-trial specialists.
Elinor Barker Aims For Track And Road Double At Cycling World Championships
Great Britain Cycling Team Head Coach, Jon Norfolk said: “It’s great to see Grand Tour winners such as Geraint Thomas returning to where their journey started, and being part of a squad alongside the next generation of riders that are also benefitting from the GBCT performance pathway.
“It’s inspirational to see the strength and depth across this squad and I genuinely believe we are medal competitive in every discipline.
“This year’s road races will really put riders to the test on attritional and technical courses and will definitely deliver worthy winners. And on home soil, this will be ever more of a spectacle for those planning to catch a glimpse of the races across the championships.”
Lizzie Deignan said, “I am delighted to be named in the squad for the Glasgow World Championships and can’t wait to pull a GB jersey on again. It’s always a privilege and can’t be taken for granted, especially after two children and with the depth of talent we have in the women’s peloton now. We have a really exciting team who I can’t wait to race with.
“I feel like form is gradually returning after the birth of Shea in September last year, and it will be good to be back on familiar roads in Glasgow where I’ve had previous success at nationals and the Commonwealth Games – lots of happy memories so I look forward to returning.”
Squads in full:
Road elite men long list
Lewis Askey
Mark Cavendish
Owain Doull
Sean Flynn
Ethan Hayter (road and time-trial)
James Knox
Daniel McLay
Tom Pidcock
Luke Rowe
James Shaw
Jake Stewart
Mark Stewart
Ben Swift
Connor Swift
Josh Tarling (time-trial only)
Geraint Thomas (road and time-trial)
Ben Tulett (road and time-trial)
Ben Turner (road and time-trial)
Sam Watson
Fred Wright
Ethan Vernon (road and time-trial)
Road under-23 men long list
Lewis Askey
Joseph Blackmore
Josh Charlton (time-trial only)
Jack Brough
Bob Donaldson
Josh Giddings (road and time-trial)
Josh Golliker (time-trial only)
Noah Hobbs
Lukas Nerurkar
Oliver Rees
Jack Rootkin-Gray
Josh Tarling (road and time-trial)
Callum Thornley (road and time-trial)
Ben Tulett (road and time-trial)
Maximus Walker (road and time-trial)
Zachary Walker
Sam Watson
Ethan Vernon (road and time-trial)
Road junior men
Alex Beldon (road race reserve)
Matthew Brennan (road race, time-trial reserve) Jacob Bush (time-trial only, road race reserve)
Sebastian Grindley
Ben Marsh (road race reserve)
Tomos Pattinson
Jed Smithson
Ben Wiggins (road and time-trial)
Road elite and under-23 women
Elynor Backstedt (U23)
Elinor Barker
Lizzie Deignan
Pfeiffer Georgi
Anna Henderson (road and time-trial)
Elizabeth Holden (road and time-trial)
Anna Shackley (U23)
Claire Steels
Rebecca Storrie
Alice Towers (U23)
Road junior women
Cat Ferguson (road and time-trial)
Ella Jamieson (road race and time-trail reserve)
Carys Lloyd
Holly Ramsey (road race reserve)
Awen Roberts
Izzy Sharp (road and time-trial)
Imogen Wolff
Para-road men
Archie Atkinson (MC4)
Felix Barrow (MT2)
Nick Beighton (MH5)
Will Bjergfelt (MC5)
Alex Brooke-Turner (MH4)
Jaco Van Gass (MC3)
Fin Graham (MC3)
Luke Jones (MH3)
Matt Robertson (MC2)
Sam Ruddock (MC1)
Ryan Taylor (MC2)
Ben Watson (MC3)
Para-road women
Fran Brown (WC1)
Amelia Cass (WC3)
Claire Danson (WH3)
Hannah Moore (WC4)
Morgan Newberry (WC5)
Daphne Schrager (WC2)
Dame Sarah Storey (WC5)
Katie Toft (WC1)
Para-road tandems
Steve Bate piloted by Chris Latham
Adam Duggleby piloted by Chris McDonald
Lizzi Jordan piloted by Corrine Hall
Sophie Unwin piloted by Jenny Holl
Lora Fachie (reserve stoker)
All para-road riders will compete in their respective road race and time-trial events.