Thomas misses national time-trial championships

Geraint Thomas is set to miss Sunday's national time-trial championships in Sawtry, Cambridgeshire.

"The decision was made quite a while ago. He's been on a training block for the Tour of Britain and the world championships; the information on the [CTT] website is incorrect," Team Sky spokesman Kris Dent told Cycling Weekly.

The Welshman appears as last man off on the provisional start sheet, and an exciting duel with Sky teammate Alex Dowsett was envisaged.

Pooley absent

Defending women's time-trial champion Emma Pooley is also absent - not by choice though. She was instructed to ride the Memorial Davide Fardelli test in Italy, which falls on the same day, in order to collect important Olympic qualification points.

"I asked British Cycling back in June [if I could do nationals], but they said it's best to do the Italian race," Pooley said.

"It's the principle of it: riders should be able to do their nationals without organising another race on the same day. The calendar's been out since the start of the year."

"It's disappointing not to get to race in the UK, as I don't get to much, and it's quite near home," she added.

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