The 25-year-old ended a 12-year wait for a British elite men's champion in Auckland last year.
Only one rider has defended the elite men's title in the modern form of the championships, American Kyle Bennett winning in 2002 and 2003.
Phillips is joined by Kyle Evans and Charlotte Green for the Great Britain Cycling Team in the competition.
Catch up on the latest episodes from British Cycling's original series, 'Behind the Bike'. Get a behind-the-scenes perspective of road races, BMX events, track cycling, and more.
British Cycling members can now exclusively watch the first episode of Behind the Bike: Tour of Britain, a three-part series that shares a unique insight into the Tour experience from the perspective of riders and team staff from the Great Britain Cycling Team.
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Dame Sarah Storey set yet another incredible Paralympic record with her third gold of Tokyo 2020 and Ben Watson joined her with his own second gold medal of these Games on another successful day for Great Britain.
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Jaco van Gass won Great Britain’s second cycling gold medal of the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics when he edged out team-mate Fin Graham in the final of the men’s C3 3000m individual pursuit at the Izu Velodrome.
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