British Cycling has today confirmed the riders who will represent Great Britain Cycling Team at the 2017 UEC Track Junior and Under-23 European Championships taking place at the Sangalhos velodrome in Anadia, Portugal, from 18-23 July.
The 14-strong under-23 squad includes Olympian Ryan Owens who will be joined by his Podium Programme sprint team mates Jack Carlin and Joe Truman.
The trio enjoyed a successful 2016/17 UCI Track Cycling World Cup season, winning the gold medal in the team sprint at both the Glasgow and Apeldoorn rounds. Ellie Dickinson, Manon Lloyd, Emily Nelson, Matt Bostock, Mark Stewart and Ollie Wood, all of whom also won gold medals during the last World Cup season, have made selection for the under-23 events.
The junior squad, comprising of 16 Junior Academy riders, includes current junior European team pursuit champion Fred Wright and junior Madison champion Rhys Britton. Six riders - Anna Docherty, Alistair Fielding, Pfieffer Georgi, Caleb Hill, Joe Nally and Will Tidball - make their European track championships debut.
Head coach Iain Dyer said: “The European championships are one of the main competition targets for our junior and under-23 track riders this year, and we’ve selected a big team for Anadia accordingly.
“The preparation for this event is going well across all the squads, with training camps and competition opportunities provided for all the riders in the run up.
“We saw some impressive results from the under-23 riders last season at the elite world cups and the world championships and I’m pleased to welcome them back as they look to build towards next season.
"For the junior riders, the execution of their performances and what they can learn from it is as important as the results for them, and this competition is a great opportunity for them to gain some quality racing experience.
“Rider development is at the heart of our pathway programme and this event provides a great opportunity for our junior academy riders to observe and learn from the more experienced riders operating in a Championship competition environment.
"Equally, I’ll be looking to the senior academy and podium riders to set the example to their younger teammates based on what they’ve learned at elite level major events.”
Great Britain Cycling Team for UEC Track Juniors and Under-23 European Championships:
Under-23 men’s endurance
Matt Bostock
Ethan Hayter
Joe Holt
Mark Stewart
Matt Walls
Ollie Wood
Under-23 women’s endurance
Megan Barker
Ellie Dickinson
Manon Lloyd
Emily Nelson
Under-23 men’s sprint
Jack Carlin
Ryan Owens
Joe Truman
Under-23 women’s sprint
Sophie Capewell
Junior men’s endurance
Rhys Britton
Joe Nally
Jake Stewart
Will Tidball
Fred Wright
Junior women’s endurance
Anna Docherty
Lauren Dolan
Pfieffer Georgi
Jenny Holl
Jess Roberts
Junior men’s sprint
Alistair Fielding
Caleb Hill
Hamish Turnbull
Lewis Stewart
Junior women’s sprint
Lauren Bate
Georgia Hilleard
