Tour de France runner-up Geraint Thomas has decided to compete in both the elite men's individual time trial and the road race at the upcoming UCI Road World Championships in Yorkshire, British Cycling has announced.
The final team for the road race also includes South Yorkshire native Ben Swift, Adam Yates, Owain Doull, Tao Geoghegan Hart and Ian Stannard, with Alex Dowsett joining Thomas for the time trial. Swift will be the team's protected rider in the hope he can use his sprint to target a medal.
British Cycling's men's road coach Matt Brammeier had a difficult task in picking just six riders for the road race after Great Britain fell out of the top ten ranked teams and failed to qualify for eight riders. He opted not to select talents such as double Tour de France stage winner Simon Yates, Luke Rowe, Hugh Carthy and Chris Lawless, who had been named in the long team.
"We have such a talent pool of elite men's road riders in this country that final selection was quite tricky even though the course is so challenging," Brammeier said.
Thomas has just returned from Canada, where he competed in the Grands Prix de Québec and Montréal but failed to leave his mark. He expressed doubts about riding the World Championships time trial but made the final selection.
"Looking at the time trial, we have selected two very experienced time trial riders this year in G and Alex, both of whom suit the course and as such we can expect to see good performances from them both," Brammeier said.
"G will then stick around to compete in the road race on the Sunday, and will no doubt be a valuable asset to the team in the final laps. National champion Ben Swift has really stepped up again this year and has come back to his best since his injury.
"I know he can't wait to get racing in front of his home crowd, and I think having that support will really spur on the whole team. Tao and Owain join us from the Vuelta, where they have both impressed as relatively young riders in the professional peloton.
"Adam Yates has had some great results this season, both in one day and stage races, and he's in great form, as is the ever-reliable Ian Stannard who will be a great team player for us throughout the race.
"Having just finished the Tour of Britain with the Great Britain Cycling Team, I was once again blown away by the level of support we receive out on the roads and I know we are all looking forward to experiencing that again in Yorkshire next week."
The men's team completes the British squad for the 2019 UCI Road World Championships, with Lizzie Deignan leading the elite women's team and Tom Pidcock named in the men's under-23 team despite a nasty crash at the Tour de L'Avenir.
Great Britain for the World Championships
Elite Men's Time Trial: Alex Dowsett, Geraint Thomas
Elite Men's Road Race: Owain Doull, Tao Geoghegan Hart, Ian Stannard, Ben Swift, Geraint Thomas, Adam Yates
Elite Women's Time Trial: Alice Barnes, Hayley Simmonds
Elite Women's Road Race: Lizzy Banks, Alice Barnes, Hannah Barnes, Lizzie Deignan, Nikki Juniper, Anna Henderson
Mixed Relay: John Archibald, Dan Bigham, Harry Tanfield, Lauren Dolan, Anna Henderson, Joss Lowden
Junior Women's Time Trial: Elynor Backstedt, Amelia Sharpe
Junior Men's Time Trial: Leo Hayter, Oscar Nilsson - Julien
Junior Women's Road Race: Elynor Backstedt, Eluned King, Anna Shackley, Amelia Sharpe, Abi Smith
Junior Men's Road Race: Lewis Askey, Alfie George, Leo Hayter, Max Walker, Sam Watson
Under-23 Men's Time Trial: Charlie Quarterman, Ethan Vernon
Under-23 Men's Road Race: Stuart Balfour, Tom Pidcock, Jake Stewart, Matt Walls, Fred Wright
