With three medals secured at the opening round of the UCI Track Cycling World Cup in Cali, a mix of youth and experience will take to the boards at the Avantidrome in Cambridge, New Zealand.
British riders have the opportunity to test themselves against some of the best in the world – many of whom will have ‘home velodrome’ advantage – while also aiming to secure valuable qualifying points on the road to the world championships in London and the Olympic Games in Rio.
The team
Sprint
Olympic qualification points is the aim for a strong sprint squad in Cambridge that sees the long-awaited return to the Great Britain Cycling Team of Becky James.
The two-time world champion will pull on the adidas Great Britain jersey for the first time in almost two years, having not represented the team since the 2014 world championships after suffering a knee injury.
Becky is joined by Jess Varnish and Katy Marchant with both riders looking to recapture early-season form in New Zealand.
For the men, Jason Kenny, Lewis Oliva and Philip Hindes retain their places from Cali, with Callum Skinner replacing Matt Crampton.
Hindes, Kenny and Oliva just missed out on a medal ride in the team sprint in Cali, finishing fifth, and will look to go one better in New Zealand to end international duties in 2015 on a high.
Endurance
The team for New Zealand sees a number of changes in personnel from the squad selected for Cali. As a result of strong performances in endurance events in Colombia, as well as at the UEC European Track Championships in Grenchen, a number of younger academy riders will be given their first taste of world cup action.
In the women’s endurance events, the Cali bronze medal-winning team pursuit quartet of Joanna Rowsell Shand, Katie Archibald, Ciara Horne and Elinor Barker are rested as is world cup omnium gold medallist Laura Trott.
Emily Nelson, Emily Kay, Manon Lloyd, Megan Barker and Abigail Dentus make up the women’s endurance squad for Cambridge.
There’s a similar story in the men’s endurance events, with Sir Bradley Wiggins, Owain Doull, Steven Burke, Jon Dibben and Andy Tennant, silver medallist in Cali in the individual pursuit, not selected.
Originally named in the squad, Ed Clancy has since withdrawn and won't make the trip to New Zealand. He suffered a slipped disc in training in the run-up to the UEC European Track Championships in Grenchen and is now set to undergo surgery this week. He's been replaced for the world cup by young rider Joe Holt.
Also named as part of the endurance line-up is Chris Latham, Germain Burton, Mark Stewart and Oliver Wood, with Latham, Burton and Stewart looking to add to the team pursuit bronze medal they secured in Cali in the 2014-15 UCI Track Cycling World Cup.
The competition
Hosts New Zealand have named a strong team for the first ever world cup round in the country. Three of the men’s team pursuit squad who won the world title in Paris earlier this year will be in action, as the trio of Piet Bulling, Alex Frame and Regan Gough take to the boards.
2014 world champion team sprinters Ethan Mitchell, Sam Webster and Eddie Dawkins have also been selected to wear the all-black skin suits.
As well as the New Zealand challenge, neighbours Australia are also likely to be among the medals in Cambridge.
Five-time Olympic champion Anna Meares will look to add to the silver she won in the team sprint in Cali while reigning team pursuit world champions and world record holders Ashlee Ankudinoff, Amy Cure, Annette Edmondson and Melissa Hoskins will compete in the rainbow jerseys for the first time.
Olympic silver medallists Michael Hepburn and Jack Bobridge also make their first world cup appearances since 2012 as they continue on the road to Rio.
Germany had the best showing in Cali, with victories in the men’s team sprint, men’s individual pursuit, men’s and women’s keirin as well as the Madison and world and Olympic champion Kristina Vogel has been named in the German squad.
Russia and China also performed strongly in Colombia, with world champion Artur Ershov leading the Russian endurance squad and six-time world champion Jinjie Gong named among the Chinese sprinters.
The venue
The UCI Track Cycling World Cup has never been held in New Zealand before and the world’s best cyclists will descend on the small town of Cambridge, in the Waipa District of the Waikato Region of the country’s North Island.
The Avantidrome was officially opened in April 2014 at a cost of around £12 million. The velodrome is a fully-enclosed, wooden, 250-metre indoor cycling track, with a capacity crowd of up to 4,000 people expected each day.
The wood used for the track in the velodrome is Siberian Spruce, a slow-growing timber with a very close grain of wood, meaning it won’t splinter.
Schedule
The time in Cambridge is 13 hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).
Friday 4 December
Women’s team pursuit qualifying
Men’s team pursuit qualifying
Women’s team sprint qualifying
Men’s team sprint qualifying
Saturday 5 December
Women’s omnium (events 1-3)
Women’s sprint
Men’s omnium (events 1-3)
Men’s keirin
Women’s team pursuit
Men’s team pursuit
Women’s team sprint
Men’s team sprint
Men’s scratch race
Sunday 6 December
Men’s sprint
Women’s omnium (events 4-6)
Men’s omnium (events 4-6)
Women’s keirin
Men’s madison
Women’s scratch race
How to follow the racing
- Reports, results, images and reaction will appear on the British Cycling website
- Follow @BritishCycling on Twitter for updates
