GB TEAM FOR MTB WORLD CHAMPS

With the World Mountain Bike Championships (September 3-9) in Fort William, Scotland, now less than a month away, the Great Britain team has announced the line-ups for its men?s and women?s teams.

Spearheading home medal hopes will be recently recrowned national mountain bike cross-country champion Oli Beckingsale and his counterparts in downhill racing, Marc Beaumont and Tracy Moseley. Joining Beckingsale in the cross-country event will be versatile all-rounder Ian Wilkinson. Commonwealth Games champion Liam Killeen will not be riding.

Having not raced since the spring, his sponsors have released a statement saying he will be sitting out the rest of the year due to a viral infection.

Downhiller Steve Peat?s appearance is also in doubt after he dislocated his foot in the National Championships in July. Although he is currently in a cast, Peat has been named for the team and is quietly confident that he will recover in time.

Also looking forward to being out of plaster by the time the championships come around is former junior world mountain bike champion Rachel Atherton, who broke her arm in May.

Atherton is joined on the team by brothers Dan and Gee, the latter having caught the eye of the selectors after performing prominently on both the downhill and 4-cross World Cup circuits this year.

Cross-Country

Elite men: Oli Beckingsale, Ian Wilkinson, Simon Richardson, Nick Craig, Paul Oldham

Elite women: Jenny Copnall, Ruth McGavigan, Elizabeth Scalia

Under-23 Men: Ian Bibby, Ross Creber

Under-23 Women: Amy Hunt

Junior Men: Hamish Creber, David Fletcher, Alex Paton

Junior Women: Annie Last, Annabel Simpson, Amy Thompson

Team Relay: TBA

Downhill

Elite Men: Dan Atherton, Gee Atherton, Marc Beaumont, Neil Donaghue, Brendan Fairclough, Steve Peat, Dan Stanbridge

Elite Women: Rachel Atherton, Helen Gaskell, Fionn Griffiths, Tracy Moseley

Junior Men: Josh Bryceland, Ruaridh Cunningham, Sam Dale, Chris Hutchens, Scott Mears, Joe Smith

Junior Women: Katy Curd

4-Cross

Elite Men: Dan Atherton, Gee Atherton, Scott Beaumont, Dale Holmes, Will Longden

Elite Women: Joey Gough, Fionn Griffiths

Trials

Chris Boyes, Andrei Burton, Daniel Butler, Alastair Clarkson, Chris Doney, James Hyland, Wayne Mahomet, Lois Morgan, Joe Oakley, Robert Poyser, Ben Savage, Duncan Shaw, Ben Slinger, Scott Wilson

Official site: www.fortwilliamworldchamps.co.uk.