Team hoping to go from strength to strength on road to Rio
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Bradley Wiggins driving Great Britain in the team pursuit gold medal ride(Image credit: Guy Swarbrick)
Laura Trott storms to individual pursuit victory in the women's omnium(Image credit: Guy Swarbrick)
Bradley Wiggins walks down into the track centre(Image credit: Swpix)
Katie Archibald (Great Britain)(Image credit: Guy Swarbrick)
Katie Archibald leads Greant Britain team pursuit(Image credit: Guy Swarbrick)
Fresh off the back of their gold-medal winning performances at the European Track Championships, Bradley Wiggins and Laura Trott will head up the Great Britain team at the first round of the UCI Track World Cup in Cali, Colombia, this weekend.
The event is the first of three meets in the winter Track World Cup series, which, along with the Track World Championships in London in March, form part of the road to the Rio Olympic Games next summer, with qualifying points up for grabs.
Wiggins is hopeful of hanging up his wheels with success in the team pursuit in Rio and, after tasting victory in the discipline at the Euros in Switzerland, he'll be joined once again by Owain Doull, Steven Burke, Andy Tennant, and Jon Dibben as they look to hone their operation.
The women's pursuit team also won European gold and all five members of that squad are included for Cali: Laura Trott, Katie Archibald, Joanna Rowsell Shand, Elinor Barker, and Ciara Horne. Trott and Archibald will both be full of confidence after winning a hat trick of golds in Switzerland, Trott also winning the Omnium and the scratch race, Archibald the elimination race and individual pursuit.
The men's omnium is one area of concern with Ed Clancy and Mark Cavendish both unavailable through injury.
The Great Britain team as a whole is looking to continue to turn things round ahead of Rio after a disastrous World Championships at the start of this year, where they failed to claim a single gold medal – the first time that has happened in 14 years. The squad has often peaked in Olympic cycles and with Rio drawing ever nearer, the World Cup events will be a key indicator of what the squad can expect to achieve next summer.
“We had some really promising performances at the recent European championships and we’ll be hoping to take that form into the first track world cup of the season," said GB coach co-ordinator Iain Dyer in a statement.
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“We have selected a strong squad as we look to keep scoring vital qualifying points for the Olympics in Rio.”
Great Britain Cycling Team for UCI Track Cycling World Cup
