Great Britain to field eight riders at world championships

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The UCI has confirmed the qualified countries and the size of each team for the road world championships in Copenhagen in September. The quotas are based on the UCI world rankings for 2011 as of August 15.

As Cyclingnews reported on Monday, Great Britain, France and Luxembourg are entitled to greater representation in the men’s elite road race than in 2010 as they are placed in the top 10 of the UCI WorldTour’s national rankings. France will have a full complement of nine riders, along with Spain, Italy, Australia, Belgium, Germany, the USA and the Netherlands.

In spite of lying in sixth in the WorldTour ranking, Great Britain can only field a team of eight, as that is the number of British riders to have scored WorldTour points in 2011. Although Fränk and Andy Schleck are the only Luxembourgers to feature in the individual WorldTour rankings, nations in the top 10 of the UCI classification are entitled to have a minimum of six starters at the Worlds.

While Mark Cavendish will be pleased to have seven riders to support him in Copenhagen rather than the two he had last year, Fabian Cancellara will lead a reduced Swiss line-up of four, following his country’s failure to make the top ten of either the WorldTour or European Tour national rankings.

World champion Thor Hushovd will be part of a four-man Norwegian squad, an increase of one from their representation last year.

Hosts Denmark are entitled to six starters thanks to their position in the European Tour rankings, as are Slovenia, Russia, Portugal, Poland, Ukraine and Croatia. Other countries to earn six-man berths thanks to their Continental tour positions are Morocco, Colombia, Venezuela and Iran.

In the women’s elite road race, the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden and Great Britain can field seven starters, while Italy can add reigning world champion Giorgia Bronzini to its selection to form an eight-rider team.

All federations are entitled to send two riders to participate in the elite men’s and women’s time trials, with additional berths left open for outgoing champions Fabian Cancellara and Emma Pooley.

Team quotas for world championships men’s elite road race:

9 starters:
Spain, Italy, Australia, Belgium, Germany, USA, Netherlands and France

8 starters:
Great Britain

4 starters:
Switzerland, Norway, Kazakhstan

3 starters:
Brazil, Argentina, China, Japan, Eritrea, Lithuania, Austria, Turkey, Czech Republic, Estonia, Belarus, Bulgaria, Sweden, Ireland, Slovakia, Canada, New Zealand.

1 starter:
Costa Rica, Latvia, Algeria, Cuba, Uruguay, Ecuador, Hungary, Romania, Greece, Serbia

Team quotas for world championships women’s elite road race:

7 starters:
Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Great Britain, Italy

6 starters:
Russia, USA, Belgium, Australia, Canada, France, Lithuania, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Ukraine

5 starters:
South Africa, Estonia, Switzerland, Belarus, El Salvador

Non-ranked nations can field up to three riders, while outgoing world champion Giorgia Bronzini may be added to the Italian selection.