Amanda Spratt, Richie Porte and Rohan Dennis have all been named as part of the Australian national team for the upcoming rescheduled and shortened UCI Road World Championships, which will take place in Imola, Italy, from September 24 to 27.
Defending time trial world champion Dennis (Ineos Grenadiers), who's currently racing at Tirreno-Adriatico, will only take part in the elite men's time trial on September 25, alongside current national time trial champion Luke Durbridge.
Durbridge will form part of the eight-man road race squad on September 27, along with Mitchelton-Scott teammates Jack Haig, Lucas Hamilton and Damien Howson, with the team being completed by Team Sunweb riders Michael Matthews and Jai Hindley, EF Pro Cycling's Simon Clarke and Trek-Segafredo's Porte, who is the only rider in the squad currently racing at the Tour de France.
Spratt – who will also co-lead her Mitchelton-Scott team at this week's Giro Rosa – will once again lead the national team at the Worlds in the elite women's road race for what is a hilly course, with a finish on the famous Imola motor-racing circuit.
Spratt took silver at the 2018 Worlds road race and bronze last year, and will be able to count on her trade-team teammates Lucy Kennedy, Grace Brown and Sarah Roy, as well as FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope's Brodie Chapman and Shara Marche (née Gillow) and the experienced Rachel Neylan (Cronos Casa Dorada), on September 26.
Brown will be Australia's sole representative in the elite women's time trial two days before the road race, on September 24.
"2020 has been a challenging year for everyone, and these World Championships will be nothing like we have seen before," said Cycling Australia CEO and managing director Steve Drake in a press release on Tuesday.
"We have selected two strong teams that will provide a number of options on race day on what will prove to be testing courses," he said.
