Geraint Thomas Set For Road World Champs After Tour Of Britain

Geraint Thomas has been named on the Great Britain long list for the UCI Road World Championships in Innsbruck next month.

Wales’ Tour de France champion and Chris Froome – who, between them, hold all three Grand Tour titles – are on the longlist for both the men’s road race and the time trial.

The road race squad also includes twins Simon and Adam Yates and British national champion Connor Swift.

Sisters Alice and Hannah Barnes are on the list of the women’s road race and time trial, while Dani Rowe – who won bronze at the Commonwealth Games in April – is listed for the road race.

“This year’s road world championship course is one for the climbers, and I’m pleased to see we have so many talented British riders selected for the long list whose strengths match the nature of the course,” British Cycling performance director Stephen Park said.

“I’m particularly thrilled that Geraint Thomas, Chris Froome and Simon Yates have made themselves available for selection this year, having made our country so proud in the three biggest races of the calendar.”

Before the World Championships, Thomas will ride the Ovo Energy Tour of Britain, which starts in Pembrey on Sunday.

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Thomas will be joined by five other Team Sky riders, including Froome, for the eight-day race – Thomas’s first opportunity to ride competitively in front of Welsh fans since he was given a hero’s welcome on his return from France.

“As soon as I’d finished the Tour de France, I knew I wanted to ride the Tour of Britain and race on home roads,” Thomas said on Team Sky’s website. “It starts in Wales, which will be special, and then I get to go and race across the whole of the UK. I can’t wait.”

Six-time Grand Tour winner Froome will be racing his first Tour of Britain as a Team Sky rider, while Thomas finished seventh overall last year.

Their participation ruled them out of the current Vuelta a Espana, which started on August 25.

Following the start in Wales, this year’s Tour of Britain will take riders into the West Country and up to Cumbria before returning to its regular finishing circuit in central London on September 9.