Owain Doull set to lead strong Great Britain team at Worlds U23 road race

Owain Doull says his form is coming together just at the right time as he prepares to take on the World Championships U23 road race on Friday afternoon, with the Team Wiggins rider likely to lead the Great Britain team in the 162.2km race in Richmond, USA.

The Welshman has demonstrated fine form coming into the Worlds, finishing fifth in Monday's U23 time trial, as well as taking third place overall at the Tour of Britain earlier this month.

"My performance at the Tour of Britain was a surprise," Doull told SkySports.com.

"I thought that if I had a really good race, maybe I could end up top-10 and get a few good stage placings, but to end up third overall, win the points jersey and be in the top 10 on every stage bar one, was great.

"It's nice to have that consistency and knowledge coming into the worlds that I'm on good form and can perform on most circuits.

"Hopefully I can turn all those third and fourth-place finishes at the Tour of Britain into a win at the worlds. That's the ultimate goal."

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The 22-year-old leads a strong outfit for GB, with new Sky recruits Tao Geoghagen Hart and Alex Peters included, with Scott Davies and Gabz Cullaigh completing the five-man squad.

And while Doull plays down his spot as leader of the British squad, he says that the Richmond course is ideally suited to him, as its few climbs are hard enough to likely enable the race to come down to a sprint from a reduced group.

>>> Ride the Worlds road race course in your own home

"If I could have designed the course, I would have designed something pretty similar," Doull said.

"It is likely to favour a small-bunch sprint at the end between 30 or 40 guys. If comes down to a finish like that, I will have a crack at it and, hopefully, I can get something out of it.

"The cobbled climbs suit my riding ability as well. I have gone well in the under-23 Tour of Flanders and stuff like that before, so I should be quite well suited to Richmond.

"Any one of us could come away with a result, and as a national team, that is the main goal: getting someone on that podium. It doesn't matter if it's me or one of the other lads."