GB squads for Melbourne and Cali World Cups announced

GB team pursuiters, European Track Championships 2010

All of Britain's track cycling big hitters will be rolled out at the opening two rounds of the 2010/2011 UCI Track Cycling World Cup in Melbourne, Australia, and Cali, Colombia in December.

As previously announced by the Melbourne race's organisers, British Cycling will be sending in a full-strength men's team to Australia over December 2-4. 

The two rounds will offer riders a chance to accrue valuable qualification points for the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

Sprinters Sir Chris Hoy, Jason Kenny and Matt Crampton will be joined in Melbourne by endurance riders Steven Burke, Ed Clancy, Jason Queally, Luke Rowe and Andy Tennant. Victoria Pendleton and Jess Varnish will contest the women's sprint events, but no British women will take part in endurance disciplines.

Two weeks after the Melbourne event, Team GB travels to Colombia, South America, for round two in Cali (December 16-18). A more compact men's team will be fielded in Cali, comprising of sprinters Sir Chris Hoy, Matt Crampton and Jason Kenny with lone endurance rider Ed Clancy.

The women's endurance squad will get a chance to test its legs after missing the Melbourne round, with Katie Colclough, Wendy Houvenaghel and Laura Trott joining the sprint duo of Victoria Pendleton and Jess Varnish.

Team GB coach Shane Sutton commented: "We are aiming to gain as many Olympic qualification points as we can as early as we can in the season, but it's likely that other nations will be taking the same approach which is why we've decided to send a full strength squad to contest the first two rounds of the World Cup season.

"The whole squad has good form at the moment, and the recent European Track Championships has given us an indicator of what is required to be competitive at the World Cups."

Team GB: Melbourne (December 2-4, 2010)

Men

Steven Burke

Ed Clancy

Matt Crampton

Sir Chris Hoy

Jason Kenny

Jason Queally

Luke Rowe

Andy Tennant

Women

Victoria Pendleton

Jess Varnish

Team GB: Cali (December 16-18, 2010)

Men

Ed Clancy

Matt Crampton

Sir Chris Hoy

Jason Kenny

Women

Katie Colclough

Wendy Houvenaghel

Laura Trott

Victoria Pendleton

Jess Varnish 

Track cycling: 2010/2011 major events

December 2-4 2010, World Cup round 1, Melbourne (Australia)

December 16-18 2010, World Cup round 2, Cali (Colombia)

January 21-23 2011, World Cup round 3, Beijing (China)

February 18-20 2011, World Cup round 4, Manchester (Great Britain)

March 23-27 2011, Track Cycling World Championships, Apeldoorn (Netherlands)

Related links

GB send full-strength men's team to Melbourne World Cup

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Nigel Wynn
Former Associate Editor

Nigel Wynn worked as associate editor on CyclingWeekly.com, he worked almost single-handedly on the Cycling Weekly website in its early days. His passion for cycling, his writing and his creativity, as well as his hard work and dedication, were the original driving force behind the website’s success. Without him, CyclingWeekly.com would certainly not exist on the size and scale that it enjoys today. Nigel sadly passed away, following a brave battle with a cancer-related illness, in 2018. He was a highly valued colleague, and more importantly, n exceptional person to work with - his presence is sorely missed.