The British Olympic Association has named the 26 riders selected for the 2016 Rio Olympics, with Mark Cavendish securing a place in the endurance track team alongside Bradley Wiggins, while Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas are named in the men’s road squad. World champion Lizzie Armitstead will be leading the women’s road race team and Laura Trott, Jason Kenny and Ed Clancy are anchoring the track squad.
As expected there is no place for Steve Cummings or Dani King in the men’s and women’s road race teams. Pete Kennaugh, Adam Yates and Ian Stannard complete the men’s road ace team with Armitstead supported by Emma Pooley – who is expected to ride the hilly time trial, and cyclo-cross specialist Niki Harris.
Wiggins is a seven-time Olympic medallist and will target gold in the team pursuit in one of the final big events of his career. Other Olympic medallists include Jason Kenny, Ed Clancy, Phillip Hindes and Steven Burke, while Owain Doull and Callum Skinner are set to make their first Olympic appearances. Ryan Owens will also travel to Rio as the team’s accredited rider for the team sprint.
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Laura Trott and Joanna Rowsell Shand lead the women’s track team alongside world champions Becky James, Katie Archibald and Elinor Barker, with Katy Marchant and Ciara Horne completing the women’s track squad. 2013 World Champion and London 2012 finalist Liam Phillips is one of two BMX riders set to compete for Team GB in Rio with Kyle Evans set for his first Olympic appearance. Great Britain will not have any riders in the cross-country mountain bike races.
The track riders will polish their form at a special holding camp in Newport wales before travelling to Rio in early August, with Cavendish and his Dimension Data team still to clarify if he will finish the Tour de France in Paris or leave the race early to join up with the track squad. The men’s road squad will depart after Froome, Thomas, Stannard finish the Tour de France. The Olympic Games begin on August 5, with the road race events held on August 6 and 7.
Cavendish has fought to secure his place in the endurance squad and is expected to be fifth rider in the team pursuit before riding the six-event Omnium. His selection means Andy Tennant is only a reserve.
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