The new under-23 women’s world title will be a major goal for Great Britain in Saturday’s World Championships road race as they line up with a particularly young team, British Cycling coach Chris Newton has confirmed.
Of the six spots Great Britain earnt for the women’s road race, four of them have gone to under-23 riders, whilst 25-year-old Lizzie Holden and 23-year-old Anna Henderson round out what is one of the youngest squads on the start list.
The youth of the team, Newton explains, is partly a result of the new under-23 title being available, but also a representative of the new talent coming up through the British ranks.
Though young, the team has plenty of experience with Pfeiffer Georgi (Team DSM), Anna Shackley (SD Worx) and Elynor Bäckstedt (Trek-Segafredo) all racing in the WorldTour, and final member Alice Towers (Le Col-Wahoo) is British national champion.
“I think right now it reflects where we’re at as GBCT [Great Britain Cycling Team],” Newton told Cyclingnews.
“We’ve got a young squad because that’s where our strengths are at the moment. We’ve got a new guard coming through and it’s just fortuitous for us that it’s happened in conjunction with an under-23s title being available within an elite race.”
The running of the under-23 race within the elite race is a decision that has been questioned, particularly for how difficult it will be tactically to race for the under-23 title in the elite women’s race. But this has not stopped Great Britain from making it a goal.
“Like most nations it’s another title that’s available so yes, of course it’s an objective of ours,” Newton said.
“It’ll be difficult, it’s not just straightforward in a sense that it’ll be complicated alongside the elites but we’ve got a plan for both events and we’ll run with that.
“With four under-23 riders, the title is very much something that’s part of our objective.”
Bucking the trend
Whilst Newton suggests that “most nations” may be looking at the under-23 title as a goal, Great Britain stand out from the crowd with their young team.
Both the United States and home nation Australia have not opted to take any under-23 riders to Wollongong, whilst big teams like the Netherlands and Belgium have only selected one rider each eligible for the title.
Forty riders in the 158-rider start list will compete for the under-23 title, with Great Britain taking the largest contingent of eligible riders.
The UCI has apparently made…
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