News: Riders for UEC Juniors and Under-23 European Track Championships

The Great Britain Cycling Team has announced the riders selected for the UEC Juniors and Under-23 European Track Championships, to be held in Anadia, Portugal from 11-16 July.

News: Riders for UEC Juniors and Under-23 European Track Championships

The Great Britain Cycling Team has announced the riders selected for the UEC Juniors and Under-23 European Track Championships, to be held in Anadia, Portugal from 11-16 July. The 40-strong squad includes reigning European, world and national track champions, who will be looking to show their dominance on the European stage.

The under-23 squads will be made up of 23 riders, competing to take European titles across the sprint and endurance events. Four-time national sprint champion, Emma Finucane, will be heading up the women’s sprint squad alongside Iona Moir, Rhian Edmunds and Rhianna Parris-Smith. Hayden Norris and Marcus Hiley will be contesting the men’s sprint events.

In the endurance events, the women’s squad of Sophie Lewis, Grace Lister, Kate Richardson, Maddie Leech and Flora Perkins will be vying for the European team pursuit title, after taking the silver medal last year. Straight off the back of becoming the youngest rider to take the elite men’s national time-trial title, Josh Tarling will take to the boards to contest the men’s endurance events alongside Josh Giddings, Dylan Hicks, Jack Brough, Noah Hobbs and national team pursuit champion Josh Charlton.

The Great Britain Cycling Team will also be sending 17 up and coming junior sprint and endurance riders to go head-to-head with the best young track riders in Europe. Awen Roberts and Isabel Sharp will be looking to add to their 2022 medals at this event in their second year on the programme. and will be joined by endurance debutants Cat Ferguson, Carys Lloyd, Ella Jamieson, Holly Ramsey, Esther Wong and Imogen Wolff. The men’s endurance squad will be headed up by 2022’s European points race champion, Ben Wiggins, who will be joined by Matthew Brennan, Elliot Rowe, Jed Smithson and Finlay Tarling.

Contesting the women’s sprint events will be Georgette Rand, Sarah Johnson and Anna Whitworth-Hay, while Oli Pettifer will compete in the men’s.

Great Britain Cycling Team’s Head of Performance Pathways, Tom Stanton said: “The UEC Juniors and Under-23 European Track Championships is not just the biggest event of the year for our academy track riders, but it is one of the biggest squads that we send to an event each year. This event is a chance for our younger track riders to showcase their development since joining the programme, take the spotlight and go after those prestigious European titles. For those at the end of their under-23 career it’s also a chance to get an international jersey before heading up to podium.

“The GBCT performance pathway has supported some of the biggest names in cycling at the start of their careers, and we are committed to continuing to do so for many years to come. The event is also an opportunity for us as a programme to assess how we are developing as a cycling nation and what else we can do to bring more potential talent into the programme and support their development in the best possible way.”

The full squads are:

Under-23 men’s endurance
Jack Brough
Josh Charlton
Josh Giddings
Dylan Hicks
Noah Hobbs
Josh Tarling

Under-23 women’s endurance
Maddie Leech
Sophie Lewis
Grace Lister
Flora Perkins
Kate Richardson

Under-23 men’s sprint
Marcus Hiley
Hayden Norris

Under-23 women’s sprint
Rhian Edmunds
Emma Finucane
Iona Moir
Rhianna Parris-Smith

Junior women’s endurance
Cat Ferguson
Ella Jamieson
Carys Lloyd
Holly Ramsey
Awen Roberts
Izzy Sharp
Imogen Wolff
Esther Wong

Junior men’s endurance
Matthew Brennan
Elliot Rowe
Jed Smithson
Finlay Tarling
Ben Wiggins

Junior women’s sprint
Sarah Johnson
Georgette Rand
Anna Whitworth-Hay

Junior men’s sprint
Oli Pettifer