Manchester world cup set for pursuit action

The Manchester round of the track world cup will feature team pursuit world champions Rob Hayles, Chris Newton and Paul Manning, and Magnus Backstedt, who will ride the individual pursuit. Britain's world champion team pursuit trio will be joined by Madison world champion Mark Cavendish in Manchester on December 9-11 to race against the the Dutch squad of Heimans, Mouris, Schep and Terpstra, who came second to the British squad in this event in Los Angeles last March.

Hayles is looking forward to riding in Manchester against quality opposition, saying, "It's always good to get on the podium in front of the home crowd. I've been racing lots of six days this season so it will be interesting to see how I go. It's a strong field but in front of the home crowd you always give it that little bit extra."

In the individual pursuit Swedish road star Magnus Backstedt has confirmed that he will ride. The 2004 Paris-Roubaix winner has been spending more time on the track recently and whilst not putting any pressure on himself he should still pose an interesting threat to the main contenders, saying, "This is not a switch from the road, just merely making the most of the abilities that I have. The pursuit is an obvious choice and hopefully will inspire more Swedish riders to take up track racing. This first outing is a fact finding mission and I am not putting any pressure on myself. I'll also ride the points and scratch race as part of my research, I'm on uncharted territory here".