Tour de France winner Chris Froome, 2011 World Champion Mark Cavendish and 2014 Women's World Cup winner Lizzie Armitstead are among the names on the long list announced by British Cycling for the 2015 UCI Road World Championships in Richmond, USA, over September 19-27.
Froome and Cavendish are among the 13 elite male riders named that will fill the nine road race and two time trial places that Britain has qualified for the 2015 Worlds. It's a strong list of riders that rivals anything any other nation could offer, not least due to the presence of Tour winner Froome - who is currently contesting the Vuelta a España in Spain.
Both Adam and Simon Yates are also on the list, with Tour stage winner Steve Cummings, Adam Blythe, Alex Dowsett, Andy Fenn, Luke Rowe, Geraint Thomas, Scott Thwaites, Ian Stannard and Ben Swift completing the provisional line up.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntmy2x6YWCE
Cavendish rode the Richmond course in May, and it is seen as another opportunity for him to take the victory after several years of unfavourably hilly courses since his memorable 2011 win in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Dowsett and Froome are mooted to take the time trial places.
>>> Mark Cavendish analyses 2015 Richmond World Championships course (video)
Armitstead tops an equally strong line-up of eight British women named, from which six will ride the road race and two in the time trial. Armitstead is joined by Alice Barnes, Hannah Barnes, Lucy Coldwell, Lucy Garner, Jessie Walker, Molly Weaver and time trial specialist Hayley Simmonds.
Britain's under-23 men also have a strong chance of a medal in Richmond, with the likes of Owain Doull and Sky stagiaires Tao Geoghegan Hart and Alex Peters named.
“We’ve got a very strong long list of riders from which we will select the final team, and there are some really exciting prospects in the mix including a few riders who sit outside the British Cycling programme structure," said GB Team's Iain Dyer. "We will be announcing the final team for the UCI Road World Championships in due course.”
British Cycling 2015 World Championships long list
Elite Men (road race nine places, time trial two places)
Adam Blythe
Mark Cavendish
Steve Cummings
Alex Dowsett
Andy Fenn
Chris Froome
Luke Rowe
Geraint Thomas
Scott Thwaites
Ian Stannard
Ben Swift
Adam Yates
Simon Yates
Elite Women (road race six places, time trial two places)
Lizzie Armitstead
Alice Barnes
Hannah Barnes
Lucy Coldwell
Lucy Garner
Hayley Simmonds
Jessie Walker
Molly Weaver
U23 Men (road race five places, time trial two places)
Hugh Carthy
Gabriel Cullaigh
Scott Davies
Owain Doull
Tao Geoghegan Hart
Matt Gibson
Chris Latham
Chris Lawless
Alex Peters
James Shaw
Junior Men (road race three places, time trial two places)
Nathan Draper
Alex Braybrooke
Joey Walker
Joe Holt
Joseph Fry
Matthew Bostock
Junior Women (road race four places, time trial two places)
Henrietta Colborne
Eleanor Dickinson
Grace Garner
Elizabeth Holden
Abby-Mae Parkinson
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