A 13-strong Great Britain Cycling Team squad, including a number of world champions, will take on the rest of the world at the UCI Para-cycling Road World Cup in Ostend, Belgium (20-22 May).

The three-day competition is the final major event for the team before selection for the Paralympic Games.

The team

Women

Megan Giglia (C3) will be hoping to continue her brilliant start to 2016 in the women’s C3 time-trial and road races. Megan won two bronze medals at world cup level in 2015, as well as finishing in fourth place in both the road race and time-trial at the 2015 road world championships in Switzerland. Megan became a world champion for the first time in her career at the 2016 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships, winning gold in both the 500m time-trial and individual pursuit.

A silver medallist at London 2012, Karen Darke (H3) also provided one of the moments of the Games, when she and team-mate Rachel Morris crossed the finish line hand-in-hand. Darke won four medals at world cup level in 2015, including silver medals in the time-trial and road race at the final event of the year in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa.

Lora Turnham (B) will continue her successful partnership with pilot Corinne Hall this weekend. The pairing, who recently won a bronze medal in the pursuit at the UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships in Italy, were world champions on the road in the time-trial in 2013 and in the road race in 2014. While they were unable to add to their collection of world titles in 2015, they were still able to win three gold medals during the world cup series.

Hannah Dines (T2) will be looking to build on a breakthrough year in 2015 which saw her win a bronze and a silver medal at the Maniago world cup and two fourth place finishes at the road world championships.

Men

Louis Rolfe (C2) will go into the event full of confidence after winning the first world title of his career earlier this year. The 18-year-old from Cambridge was a late replacement for Kadeena Cox in the mixed team sprint at the track world championships, and duly took gold alongside Jon Allan Butterworth and Jody Cundy. He also picked up a bronze medal in the men’s C2 kilo.

David Stone (T2) also returns to the team in Belgium. The three-time Paralympic gold medallist missed the 2015 season and will be keen to regain the form that has also seen him win eight world titles on the road.

Simon Price (C2), a bronze medallist at the 2011 road world championships, and the 2016 British Cycling Time-Trial and Circuit race champion will compete in the C2 classification alongside Louis Rolfe.

Jon Gildea (C5) will be looking to build on a promising start to 2016, which has seen him become a British champion and win a silver medal at the track world championships.

Steve Bate (B) and pilot Adam Duggleby will hope to see a return to the form that saw them medal four times at world cups in 2015. The pair have enjoyed a strong start to 2016, finishing fourth in the pursuit at the track world championships and claiming two British titles at the British Cycling Para-cycling Time-Trial and Road Circuit Championships.

There will be a quick turnaround for Jaco Van Gass (C4), who travels to Belgium off the back of winning a gold and silver medal at the recent Invictus Games in Orlando.

Craig McCann (T2) will also seek to build on his recent good form at the Para-cycling Cups in Verola and Brixia which saw him win four bronze medals across the two events.

The venue

Ostend is a Belgian coastal city and municipality, located in the province of West Flanders. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerke, Raversijde, Stene and Zandvoorde, and the city of Ostend proper – the largest on the Belgian coast.

Event schedule