Megan Barker will lead the Welsh charge for British titles at the forthcoming HSBC UK | National Track Championships in Manchester.

Barker will contest the individual pursuit at the championships, which take place at the HSBC UK National Cycling Centre across the weekend of January 24-26.

Of the challenge, she says:

“I’ve spent the last year focusing on the team pursuit, so I’m racing the individual pursuit at nationals as it’ll be a good chance to see where my legs are at after a solid block of training.

“To win that national champion’s jersey would mean a lot. In Britain we’ve got multiple Olympic, world and European champions to compete against, so it’s always one of the hardest competitions of the year.”

Other Welsh riders will come into the championships with jerseys to defend, including Rhys Britton, who won the men’s points race last year, and Ellie Coster, who was victorious in the women’s 500m time trial.

She explains:

“I’d love to get a few more national titles under my belt. This year’s national championships will be my chance to see any improvements and identify the things I still need to work on.

“Britain has such a depth of high-quality riders that sometimes racing nationals is harder than racing against riders from other countries, purely due to the standard. I love getting stuck in and I always learn a lot from the experience.”

Other Welsh riders also competing include Josh Price, Will Roberts, Matthew Burke, Owain Roberts, Joe Holt, Anna Morris, Lizzie Bennett and Leah Dixon.

A full entry list is available here.

Tickets are still available for the championships, and are available to purchase here.

Image credit - SW Pix