British Cycling announce final squads for World Championships

The final British Cycling squads for the World Championships in Tuscany, Italy have been announced. As expected the men's road race team is built around Chris Froome, with Wiggins already publicly saying he'll support him in his bid to wear the stripes. Armitstead heads up the women's road race team, and Wiggins and Dowsett get a crack at the TT, with both in excellent form.

The Men's road race team has a distinctly black-and-blue flavour, with six riders – Froome, Wiggins, Thomas, Edmondson, Tiernan-Locke and Stannard – coming from Team Sky. Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma - Quickstep) and Steve Cummings (BMC) make up the eight. For the women Armitstead (Boels Dolmans) is supported by Katie Colclough (Specialized-lululemon), Nikki Harris (Team Flexpoint) and Lucy Garner (Argos-Shimano)

The road race has a distinctly classics feel, with the toughest parcours in many years. There's ten laps of a 16.6km circuit which includes a testing 4.6km climb to Fiesole. Given that it's unsurprising that Sagan and Cancellara are currently the favourites at the bookies; although there's no doubt it's a tough day in the saddle it's not custom-made for Froome by any means. The women get five laps of the same circuit after a shorter opening seciton, making for a 140km course compared to 272km for the men.

Performance Director Sir Dave Brailsford said of the selections, “I’m pleased with the teams we’ve entered. Both Bradley and Alex have shown great TT form this season and looking at the men’s road race team, we have real strength and depth in the team It’s a real boost for us to have two Tour de France winners in there along with high-calibre support from the likes of Cav, Geraint, Steve and Ian. I’m looking forward to seeing what Lizzie can do out on the Worlds course given her great form at the minute, and I’m confident that Lucy, Katie and Nikki can give her the support she needs.”

The U23 squads will be finalised once the Tour of Britain is finished, but Simon Yates – who today won stage 6 to Haytor – looks a nailed down cert for team leader in the men's race, supported by his brother Adam.

Men’s Elite Road Race
Mark Cavendish
Steve Cummings
Josh Edmondson
Chris Froome
Ian Stannard
Geraint Thomas
Jon Tiernan Locke
Bradley Wiggins

Men’s Elite Time Trial
Alex Dowsett
Bradley Wiggins

Women’s Elite Road Race
Lizzie Armitstead
Katie Colclough
Nikki Harris
Lucy Garner