Great Britain will once again have only a small squad at the European Championships and no representation in any road races, sending just four riders to the event in Ljubljana, Slovenia this coming week.
Team GB have had a mixed history with the European Championships, which only introduced elite races in 2016. They fielded no riders for the first two editions, then sent road race and time trial squads from 2018 to 2020 after hosting in 2018, skipped the event in 2021 and 2022, sent full elite squads in 2023, then skipped entirely again in 2024.
In 2025, British Cycling employed a new strategy, sending only TT riders to focus their efforts where they had the best chance of results, and this is the same approach they're taking in 2026.
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Ethan Hayter and Callum Thornley will take on the elite men's TT, with Lauren Dickson riding the women's event. Ben Wiggins, who was shocked to miss the top 10 at the World Championships, will race the under-23 men's TT.
The big omission from the squad is Zoe Bäckstedt, who finished second to Marlen Reusser in the elite women's TT in Montreal, but will not be racing against the clock in Ljubljana.
British Cycling's press release mentions five riders on more than one occasion, which suggests a rider may have pulled out at the last minute. Anna Henderson was also on the early entry list, but not part of the final selection.
"In a reflection of 2025's strategy, the five riders to compete are all time-trial specialists and will aim to showcase the strength the nation holds in this discipline in their given categories," a British Cycling press release read.
Despite the small selection of riders, Team GB cycling lead Matt Brammeier was confident about his riders' chances. The men's TT seems like the biggest opportunity for a medal, with Thornley and Hayter both taking second at TTs during the Vuelta a España, then finishing 10th and 18th respectively at the World Championships.
"As we continue to build towards the LA Olympic Games, we are excited to field a competitive team with huge potential at the UEC Road European Championships," Brammeier said. "A first European Championships for three of the five [four - ed.] riders, it will be a great opportunity for us to test ourselves against Europe's best time trial riders."
Coming, as they traditionally do, straight after the World Championships and before Il Lombardia, the European Championships occupy a tricky slot in the calendar, both in terms of riders getting the time away from their trade teams and national federations financing and organising two big championships in quick succession.
So despite the fact that riders like Pfeiffer Georgi and Tom Pidcock took home strong road race results in Montreal – 11th and seventh respectively – fielding full road race teams for the European Championships remains a stretch for Great Britain.
Cyclingnews has reached out to British Cycling for further comment on this decision.
Great Britain has hardly ever fielded junior or under-23s to the European Championships in recent years, not even in 2018 when Glasgow hosted, and that isn't changing for 2026.
The European Championships kick off this Friday, October 3 with the under-23 road races, with all of the time trials taking place on Tuesday, October 7.
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