Cavendish And Deignan To Represent Britain In Qatar, But Storey Misses Out

21 September 2016 05:37

Mark Cavendish and Lizzie Deignan will represent Great Britain at next month's UCI Road World Championships in Qatar but there was no place in the team for 14-time Paralympic gold medallist Dame Sarah Storey.

Storey, who added three more golds in Rio to become Britain's most decorated female Paralympian, had made selectors aware of her desire to compete in Qatar next month.

The 38-year-old races in World Tour races alongside her Olympic counterparts and won the C4/C5 road race in Brazil by more than three minutes.

Storey posted a link to the team on Twitter along with the message: "Good luck everyone! Time to go on holiday for @BarneyStorey & me."

Cavendish, who won silver on the track in the omnium at Rio 2016, and Deignan, known as Armitstead before her marriage last weekend to fellow cyclist Philip Deignan, will both compete at the championships in Doha, held across October 9-16.

"The depth of talent available to us on the road this year has been exceptional and I believe we have picked strong squads for all the races we are entering," said British Cycling head coach Iain Dyer.

"In the men's race, Mark heads to Doha as one of the clear favourites given the nature of the course and he will have a strong team around him."

Cavendish's fellow Olympians Steve Cummings, Ian Stannard and Geraint Thomas are included on the shortlist along with current national champion Adam Blythe.

Reigning women's world champion Deignan has been selected for the women's elite race, as have national champion Hannah Barnes and her sister Alice Barnes.

Dyer added: "In the women's squad, we've got some real high-calibre contenders with a couple of riders having the capability to be competitive in a sprint finish scenario."

Squads - Elite Men Road Race (nine places qualified): Adam Blythe, Mark Cavendish, Stephen Cummings, Alex Dowsett, Dan McLay, Luke Rowe, Ian Stannard, Ben Swift, Geraint Thomas, Scott Thwaites.

Elite Women Road Race (eight places qualified): Alice Barnes, Hannah Barnes, Lizzie Deignan, Danielle King, Laura Massey, Annasley Park, Abby Mae Parkinson, Eileen Roe.

Source: PA-WIRE