British Cycling’s technical director Shane Sutton is relishing the official beginning of the road to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games after the team announcement for this month’s European Track Championships in Guadeloupe.
Britain have named a 15-strong team for the continental gathering, headed by Olympic champions Ed Clancy, Joanna Rowsell and Laura Trott, which marks the first chance to earn qualification points for Rio 2016.
Rowsell and Trott are current world champions in the women’s team pursuit and are joined in Guadeloupe by Elinor Barker and Katie Archibald who were part of that global title winning quartet back in February.
And Sutton said: “This European Championships marks the first opportunity for us to score Olympic qualification points for Rio and as such the squad as a whole is prepared and looking forward to this season’s racing.
“It’s good to see some new faces in the team with Ciara Horne, who joined the Academy programme last month, making selection as well as Mark Christian who returns to the track team as a guest rider following his strong performance at the Commonwealth Games.”
© Sportsbeat 2014