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Lizzie Deignan and Chris Froome spearhead Great Britain challenge at UCI Road World Championships

Deignan back from appendix op as she seeks to regain crown, Tour and Vuelta champ Froome targets time trial

British Cycling has confirmed that Tour de France and Vuelta winner Chris Froome will ride the time trial at the UCI World Championships in Bergen, Norway, while  Lizzie Deignan will seek to reclaim the rainbow jersey in the road race after recovering from an operatioon to remove her appendix.

Neither Mark Cavendish nor Geraint Thomas, both of whom returned from injuries at the Tour de France to race in  last week's Tour of Britain, feature in the squad for the men's road race as they continue their recovery.

Froome also skips that event to focus on the time trial,  a discipline in which he won bronze medals at the Olympic Games in London 2012 and at Rio last year. He will be joined by reigning British national time trial champion, Steve Cummings.

Cummings also won the national jersey in the road race on the Isle of Man this June but like Froome, gives that event a miss. Instead, Great Britain's challenge inthe men's race will comprise a trio of former national champions - Peter Kennaugh, Adam Blythe and Ian Stannard - plus Owain Doull, Mark Christian, Jon Dibben, Tao Geoghegan Hart, Ben Swift and Scott Thwaites.

In the women's race, 2015 champion Deignan, who won the rainbow jersey in Richmond, Virginia, will be supported by Alice and Hannah Barnes, Elinor Barker, Dani King, Mel Lowther and Hayley Simmonds complete the team.

Hannah Barnes and Elinor Barker will represent the country in the elite women’s time trial.

British Cycling’s head coach Iain Dyer commented: “Selection for this year’s road world championships was a difficult one due to the depth of talent we have in Great Britain across the board, which is a good position to be in.

“I’m delighted to see Chris Froome wishing to finish his season in Great Britain Cycling Team colours after another fantastic year for him and I’m looking forward to seeing him in action on a course which suits his strengths.

"Equally, I’m pleased to see Lizzie selected for the women’s road race following her recent illness. Lizzie will be supported by a full strength women’s team which is testament to how much women’s cycling is growing in this country in general but also the investment we have made in developing our best female road riders.

“The junior squads are looking strong and we’ve seen some great results from individuals named within the teams this year,"he continued. "It would be great to see this reflected in the results at the world championships, but what’s important for me is they make the most of the opportunity of being in the same team as the professional road riders and benefit from this experience as part of their long-term development.

“There are some notable omissions from the squad, such as Mark Cavendish and Geraint Thomas plus Jacob Hennessy from the under-23 squad which is unfortunate but understandable," he added.

"We are coming to the end of a long season for the road riders and injury and illness becomes inevitable so their decisions to withdraw themselves from selection are respected.

“I believe we are taking a talented squad of riders to this year’s world championships with some very real chances of success in each of the squads and I look forward to the racing in Bergen.”

The 2017 UCI Road World Championships take place from Saturday 16 to Sunday 23 September and you can find the full programme on  the event website.

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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8 comments

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alansmurphy | 6 years ago
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Tao Taaaaaaaaa-o!

Avatar
peted76 | 6 years ago
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It's going to be great, the worlds has not dissapointed in the past few years for sheer brutality and flatout racing. This course looks pretty technical and I suspect it'll be a long strung out field with many groups within a couple of laps, once the peloton hits the city itself. 

With only one significant climb on the route, it'll be down to teams to try and break the groups down so it doesn't end in a bunch sprint. Money has to be on the likes of Sagan, Gilbert or Greg VA.

I think RobD's called it, Dutchy's or Belgium's have all the best firepower for this. 

 

Avatar
davel replied to peted76 | 6 years ago
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peted76 wrote:

It's going to be great, the worlds has not dissapointed in the past few years for sheer brutality and flatout racing. This course looks pretty technical and I suspect it'll be a long strung out field with many groups within a couple of laps, once the peloton hits the city itself. 

With only one significant climb on the route, it'll be down to teams to try and break the groups down so it doesn't end in a bunch sprint. Money has to be on the likes of Sagan, Gilbert or Greg VA.

I think RobD's called it, Dutchy's or Belgium's have all the best firepower for this. 

 

Agree... But if I've read the course correctly, it's 11 laps, so 11 x that punchy climb (1 mile at 6%)?

Pretty open, and Sagan should be well up for it.

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RobD | 6 years ago
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A little surprised Alex Dowsett wasn't in the TT lineup, with Steve Cummings' injury from the tour I'd have been surprised he had the form (unless he's just been on the turbo doing TT training since then)

I've got a feeling it could be a belgian or dutch win this year, riders from both countries seem to be going really well.

Avatar
Awavey replied to RobD | 6 years ago
1 like
RobD wrote:

A little surprised Alex Dowsett wasn't in the TT lineup, with Steve Cummings' injury from the tour I'd have been surprised he had the form (unless he's just been on the turbo doing TT training since then)

Cummings was national TT champion though and Dowsetts TT form hasn't been great for a while,might have been a different story had he won the ToB TT stage.

Avatar
nightwol replied to RobD | 6 years ago
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RobD wrote:

A little surprised Alex Dowsett wasn't in the TT lineup, with Steve Cummings' injury from the tour I'd have been surprised he had the form (unless he's just been on the turbo doing TT training since then)

I've got a feeling it could be a belgian or dutch win this year, riders from both countries seem to be going really well.

With that big climb right at the end, it's not a regular "tester" friendly course. I think that's also why Hayley Simmonds isn't selected for the women's race.

Avatar
Leviathan | 6 years ago
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Anyone know what the course is like? I can't only see Stannard in a breakaway having half a chance.

Avatar
ped replied to Leviathan | 6 years ago
1 like

Leviathan wrote:

Anyone know what the course is like? 

If only there were some way to find out. 

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