Road To 2016
Preview: UCI Track World Cup Round 2, Glasgow
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The second round of the UCI Track World Cup will take place at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, November 16-18, with the Great Britain line up featuring experience blended with raw new talent, from newly crowned Olympic champions to international debutants.
Tickets for the first major international competition in Britain since the London 2012 Olympic Games sold out within hours, as fans anticipated racing on the new velodrome, which has been built by Schuermann Architects of Germany for the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
The action will kick off on Friday 16 November with team pursuit qualification, where Olympic champions Laura Trott and Dani King are joined for the first time by Elinor Barker who replaces Joanna Rowsell.
Barker, who was inducted to British Cycling’s Olympic Academy after becoming world junior time trial champion in September, showed her prowess in the team pursuit at the European junior and under-23 track championships when, alongside team mates Lucy Garner and Amy Roberts, she won gold, beating the British record in the process.
The men’s endurance squad will contain similar changes with a host of new riders, all eager to show they have what it takes at this early stage in the next Olympic cycle.
One such rider, Jon Dibben, has had some impressive showings on the boards this year including in the omnium at the junior track world championships in August. He won all the time trial events on his way to silver, proving he may well be a great asset to any team pursuit squad.
The men’s sprint squad, made up of Olympic Champions Jason Kenny, Philip Hindes and for the team sprint, will include veteran team pursuit man one, Ed Clancy.
Clancy, who will compete in this event for the first time will go in position three. With a fast time in both the flying lap and the kilometre during the Olympic omnium this summer, this will be an interesting venture on his part.
The women’s sprint events will be contested by Jess Varnish and Becky James. James, who showed her ever burgeoning form in the recent British Track Championships in Manchester with four out of four gold medals, will be keen to give selectors an early indication of her intentions after the recent departure of Victoria Pendleton.
British Cycling will be featuring exclusive video interviews with key athletes and coaches ahead of next weekend’s action, as well as live reports from all competition at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome from 11am on the 16 November.
