Cavendish and Thomas head up Great Britain in Worlds

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Mark Cavendish and Geraint Thomas will lead Great Britain in the World Championships men’s road race, and Lizzie Armitstead will go for the title in the women’s race. British Cycling announced their squad for the races in Richmond, Virginia, on Friday.

Cavendish has 14 wins on the season, including a stage at the Tour de France. This week he had to abandon the Tour of Britain after a crash, but his injuries are said to not be serious. Thomas won the overall title at the Volta ao Algarve, as well as the one-day race E3 Harelbeke. Tour de France winner Chris Froome was not selected, having broken his foot in a crash at the Vuelta a Espana.

Armitstead can look to nine wins on the season, most recently winning the GP de Plouay – Bretagne. She started off the year by winning the Ladies’ Tour of Qatar and is also national road champion.

Owain Doull and Tao Geoghegan Hart will lead the U23 men’s team.

“We’ve selected a really exciting team of riders to contest this year’s road world championships,” said Great Britain Cycling Team coach co-ordinator, Iain Dyer. “We have high hopes for a number of riders in terms of medal prospects but it will also be a fantastic opportunity for some of the younger and less experienced members of the team to compete at an international event for the first time.”

Great Britain Cycling for the Road World Championships:

Elite men: Ian Stannard, Mark Cavendish, Ben Swift, Stephen Cummings, Geraint Thomas, Andy Fenn, Luke Rowe, Scott Thwaites and Alex Dowsett

Elite women: Lizzie Armitstead, Lucy Garner, Alice Barnes, Molly Weaver, Jessie Walker and Hayley Simmonds

Under-23 men. Owain Doull, Scott Davies, Tao Geoghegan Hart, Alex Peters and Gabriel Cullaigh

Junior men: Nathan Draper, Joey Walker and Joe Holt

Junior women: Lizzie Holden, Grace Garner, Abby Mae Parkinson and Ellie Dickinson