Ten British riders will make their Track World Championships debut in Hong Kong over April 12-16, as British Cycling has named its squad for the 2017 event.
The 20 selected riders feature a mix of experience and youth, as some of the big names from the Rio 2016 Olympic Games sit the event out.
As expected, both Laura and Jason Kenny miss the event, as does team pursuit linchpin Ed Clancy, as they take a break from top-level track competition.
>>> Laura Kenny announces she’s expecting with cryptic Instagram post
Four Olympic champions will be in attendance: Katie Archibald, Elinor Barker, Steven Burke and Callum Skinner.
“The team is made up of a good mix of experienced and developing riders across all the disciplines," said Great Britain head coach Iain Dyer.
"Throughout the earlier world cups and at the UEC European Track Championships last year, there was a good opportunity to bring some new riders into the front line. They gave a really good account of themselves and that’s reflected in the selections we’ve made today. I’m looking forward to seeing them step up into World Championship level competition."
Dyer says that in a championships free of concern for collecting Olympic qualification points, the riders will have a chance to take part in events that they might not normally get an opportunity to ride in. It will also provide an opportunity to try out the revised omnium event, which has now dropped all the individual rounds in favour of four mass-start rounds.
"This year’s worlds will allow them to race different events which were not possible in previous years due to the focus on the Olympic events," said Dyer.
"This is particularly true for the endurance riders who can broaden their experience in the new format omnium plus the Madison, which both have the potential to feature in the Tokyo 2020 track cycling programme. It’s a great experience for our younger riders to make their debut performances alongside such established athletes and I’m sure they will learn a lot from this opportunity.”
Great Britain team for the 2017 Track World Championships
Women’s endurance
Katie Archibald
Elinor Barker
Ellie Dickinson
Neah Evans
Emily Kay
Manon Lloyd
Emily Nelson
Men’s endurance
Matt Bostock
Steven Burke
Kian Emadi
Chris Latham
Mark Stewart
Andy Tennant
Oliver Wood
Sprint
Jack Carlin
Katy Marchant
Lewis Oliva
Ryan Owens
Callum Skinner
Joe Truman
