British team named for LA Track Worlds
02.02.2017
Jody Cundy headlines the British team for March’s UCI Para Cycling Track World Championships.
British Cycling has named the squad of riders who will compete for the Great Britain Cycling Team at the 2017 UCI Para Cycling Track World Championships in Los Angeles from 2-5 March.
Jody Cundy, double Paralympic gold medallist in Rio and a 12-time world champion, will aim to defend the rainbow jersey in the kilo, an event he has dominated since making his debut at world championship level in 2006.
Jon Gildea is selected for his second consecutive UCI Para Cycling Track World Championships, following his impressive performance at the HSBC UK | National Track Championships at the weekend. Gildea will be aiming to go one better than the silver medal he won last year in the C4/5 scratch race.
This year’s world championships also serve as the qualification event for the tandem events for visually impaired riders for the 2018 Commonwealth Games. In the men’s tandem events, Paralympic silver medallist Neil Fachie is reunited with Craig Maclean, a pairing that won double gold at the Commonwealth Games in 2014, while Matt Rotherham makes his debut for the team as a pilot for James Ball.
Sophie Thornhill and pilot Corrine Hall will be looking to build on the early promise that saw them win two national titles on the track last month, with Lora Fachie piloted by Hazel Macleod. Aileen McGlynn will ride for the Great Britain Cycling Team for the first time since 2012 alongside pilot Louise Haston, with Alison Patrick, a silver medallist in Rio in Para-triathlon, making her debut for the Great Britain Cycling Team, alongside experienced pilot Helen Scott.
Great Britain Cycling Team para cycling head coach Jon Norfolk said:
“With a number of experienced riders selected with multiple world championships and Paralympic Games experience we are confident that this team can bring home multiple medals from these championships.
“We are pleased to welcome a number of new faces to the team while we look ahead to qualification for the Commonwealth Games in 2018 with some new combinations in the tandem events. Three and a half years away from the next Paralympic Games and with the opportunity of Gold Coast is the ideal time to experiment and look at potential home nation riders.
“It was important when selecting the team for this event that we considered what was going to be the best for our programme riders, not just this year, but over the next four years, which is why a number of our more established riders have not been selected. The period after a Paralympics is always slightly different, with a number of riders choosing to focus on different performance objectives, ahead of another four year cycle working towards Tokyo.”
Great Britain Cycling Team for the 2017 UCI Para Ccycling Track World Championships
•James Ball (piloted by Matt Rotherham)
•Jody Cundy
•Lora Fachie (piloted by Hazel Macleod)
•Neil Fachie (piloted by Craig Maclean)
•Jon Gildea
•Aileen McGlynn (piloted by Louise Haston)
•Alison Patrick (piloted by Helen Scott)
•Sophie Thornhill (piloted by Corrine Hall)