USA Cycling has named its longlist of riders for the track programme at the Rio 2016 Olympics, with the final team set to be named in June.
Twelve women have been included in the pre-selection, which will in turn be whittled down to four team pursuit riders, one omnium rider and up to one rider apiece for the individual sprint and keirin.
Sarah Hammer, silver medallist in the omnium in London in 2012, is one of two riders in contention for the omnium berth this time around, along with Jennifer Valente.
Just three riders have been named to the longlist for the men’s track team and the final line-up will feature just two – one omnium rider and one keirin rider. Jake Duehring has been nominated for the omnium, while Matt Baranoski and Danny Robertson are in contention for the keirin.
Women’s track long team:
Kelly Catlin (Arden Hills, Minn./NorthStar Development): Team Pursuit Chloe Dygert (Brownsburg, Ind./TWENTY16 p/b SHO-AIR): Team Pursuit Missy Erickson (Alexandria, Minn./BIG Picture Cycling-Mission Possible 2016): Sprint, Keirin Dana Feiss (Telford, Pa./Chester County Cycling Foundation): Sprint, Keirin Kim Geist (Emmaus, Pa./Chester County Cycling Foundation-Team Alliance Environmental): Team Pursuit Madalyn Godby (Louisville, Colo./University of Colorado-Colorado Springs): Sprint, Keirin Sarah Hammer (Colorado Springs, Colo.): Omnium, Team Pursuit* Beth Hernandez (Oakland, Calif./JAKROO Racing Team): Team Pursuit Mandy Marqardt (Allentown, Pa./Team Novo Nordisk): Sprint, Keirin Lauren Stephens (Dallas, Texas/Team TIBCO-SVB): Team Pursuit Jennifer Valente (San Diego, Calif./TWENTY16 p/b SHO-AIR): Omnium, Team Pursuit Ruth Winder (Lafayette, Calif./UnitedHealthcare): Team Pursuit
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Matt Baranoski (Perkasie, Pa./Custom Velo): Keirin Jake Duehring (Irvine, Calif./GS Ciao): Omnium Danny Robertson (Colorado Springs, Colo.): Keirin
Lampre-Merida links up with Team Colpack ahead of planned UCI reforms
Lampre-Merida has announced that it will link up with Continental outfit Team Colpack next season in preparation for the UCI reforms, due to be implemented in 2017, which prescribe that each WorldTour squad must have a development team.
Team Colpack will remain a separate entity in 2016, with a statement noting that for the first season, Lampre’s ties will be focused on “help on technical matters, training and health, topics, respecting the independence of the Team Colpack staff.” Team Colpack will also race on Merida bikes in 2016.
According to Gazzetta dello Sport, no fewer than four Colpack riders are in line to step up to WorldTour with Lampre-Merida in 2017 – Worlds under-23 silver medallist Simone Consonni, Oliviero Troia, Edward Ravasi and Filippo Ganna.
The UCI’s planned reforms suffered a significant blow on Friday when ASO announced that it would pull its races from the WorldTour calendar in 2017.
High life for Landa at Team Sky
Having outlined his racing programme up to the Giro d’Italia earlier in the week, new Sky arrival Mikel Landa has since pencilled another staple of his new team’s preparations into his calendar – an altitude training camp.
Landa finished third overall at the Giro this year without undertaking a lengthy stint at altitude in the build-up, but he has declared himself willing to follow the methodology of his new team this time around. The Basque will travel to a training camp at altitude between the Vuelta a la Comunitat Valenciana and Tirreno-Adriatico, some two months before the start of the Giro.
“I don’t have a lot of experience in that field, so I’m approaching it with great respect,” Landa told Tuttobici. “We’ve decided to do it a long time before the Giro to see how I react and to adjust things if necessary. Last year I didn’t do this kind of work before the Giro and perhaps I would even have thought about doing it in 2016. That’s my experience, but at Sky everything is planned in detail, so it’s right to accept advice and try it.”
