British roster finalized for mountain bike Worlds
Four cross, downhill riders added to cross country and team relay picks
British Cycling announced the riders who will represent Great Britain in the downhill, four cross and trials disciplines at the 2011 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships, taking place in Champéry, Switzerland from August 31 to September 4. Cross country and relay team riders were announced last month.
Current World Champion Tracy Moseley will be looking to defend her title in the downhill event and has also been selected for the relay, an event which scores Olympic qualifying points for top nations. 2010 downhill World Champion Steve Peat and 2010 World Cup overall champion Gee Atherton will both be looking to put in strong performances in the elite men's category.
Junior female rider Manon Carpenter is currently leading the junior World Cup series, whilst both of the selected junior male riders, Lewis Buchanan and Mark Scott, have had a fantastic World Cup season and they are all looking on good form ahead of the World Championships.
Fionn Griffiths will represent in the four cross, having had a podium performance this year. In the trials, James Hyland has bounced back from an ankle injury to make his mark on the British scene.
"We have a massive pool of mountain bike talent in Great Britain and this is reflected in the size of the squad we have selected for the World Championships," said Great Britain Performance Manager Shane Sutton. "The downhill guys perform consistently well year-on-year and it’s exciting to see the young talent, like Danny Hart, up there on the podium alongside the best elite riders in the sorld.
"From an Olympic perspective, I believe we're gaining momentum as we approach 2012 and we've seen some promising performances from all the riders. Annie Last in particular has done the country proud by riding up an age category this year in the World Cup series and recently winning the silver medal at the Under 23 European Championships. For the world championships, she must ride within her U23 category and it would be great to see her back on the world championships podium like she was last year."
Complete British team for the 2011 UCI Mountain Bike Worlds
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Cross country
Elite men: Liam Killeen, Oli Beckingsale
U23 men: David Fletcher, Kenta Gallagher
U23 women: Annie Last
Junior men: Grant Ferguson, Matt Sumpton
Junior women: Bethany Crumpton, Katy Winton
Downhill
Elite men: Gee Atherton, Marc Beaumont, Josh Bryceland, Ruaridh Cunningham, Brendan Fairclough, Danny Hart, Steve Peat
Elite women: Rachel Atherton, Fionn Griffiths, Tracy Moseley
Junior men: Lewis Buchanan, Mark Scott
Junior women: Manon Carpenter
Four cross
Elite men: Scott Beaumont, Will Evans, Scott Roberts
Elite women: Fionn Griffiths
Relay
Grant Ferguson, David Fletcher, Kenta Gallagher, Tracy Moseley
Trials
Andrei Burton, James Hyland, David Kerr, Sam Oliver, Ben Savage, Joe Seddon
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