British Cycling has announced the eleven cross country mountain bikers who will travel to Mont-Saint-Anne in Canada to compete at the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships which take place from 28th August – 1st September.
Commonwealth and recently crowned national champion Annie Last has made selection for the elite women’s race along with Isla Short, while under-23 national champion Evie Richards will take to the start line in the under-23 event. In the men’s races, Frazer Clacherty showed great form by stepping up to take the elite men’s national champion title earlier this month and has been selected to ride in his age category of under-23 men at this world championships. He will be joined by team mates Sean Flynn and Cam Orr, while Grant Ferguson will represent Great Britain in the elite men’s category.
In the junior races, Charlie Aldridge and Harry Birchill have been selected as has Harriet Harnden who will be looking to improve on her bronze medal at last year’s world championships.
Speaking of selection, lead coach Simon Watts said: “With the Olympics drawing nearer, the world championships in Mont-Saint-Anne are an important opportunity to rack up more qualification points and the team we have selected reflects that.
“Annie has had a mixed season so far, with illness and misfortune affecting her world cup performances, however she can take confidence from the results she’s had at other races this year and also from the knowledge she won a silver medal on this course at the 2010 junior world championships.
“Evie has worked hard to come back from injury and is making remarkable progress, consistently finishing in second place at the world cups this season. The steep nature of the course will play to Evie’s climbing skills and, for similar reasons, will also suit Isla, who has impressed during her first year as a programme member.
“It was great to see Frazer step up and not only ride but dominate in the elite category at the national champions this year having had a difficult start to the season with an injury. Cam and Sean have both shown progression in their training and competition, and so these world championships are an opportunity for them to build on this and see where they are at against the best in the world.
“All three of the junior riders we have selected have excelled this season and I will be looking for them to cement this at the world championships.
“Finally, we will be entering a team into the mixed relay event and, thanks to the strength we have within the team across the categories, we stand a good chance of putting down a good performance to contribute to our all-important Olympic qualification campaign. The team names for the mixed relay will be confirmed nearer the time.”
The downhill team for the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships will be announced by British Cycling in due course.
The Great Britain Cycling Team for UCI Mountain Bike World Championships, Mont-Saint-Anne, Canada:
Elite Men
Grant Ferguson
Elite Women
Annie Last
Isla Short
Under-23 Men
Frazer Clacherty
Sean Flynn
Cameron Orr
Under-23 Women
Evie Richards
Junior Men
Charlie Aldridge
Harry Birchill
Junior Women
Harriet Harnden
Anna McGorum
