Great Britain Announces 44 Riders for World Championships, Olympic Champion Pidcock Won't Compete for Rainbow Stripes

Aug 17, 2021
by James Smurthwaite  
Dreams come true.

British Cycling has announced a 44 rider squad that will be heading to the World Championships in Val di Sole at the end of August.

The team includes riders in cross-country, downhill, four-cross and eMTB disciplines as Team GB will hope to build on its strong performance in Leogang last year that included finishing second in the medal table.

The downhill team includes reigning downhill World Champion Reece Wilson, two time downhill World Champion Danny Hart and former junior World Champion Tahnee Seagrave. On the XC side, Olympian Evie Richards will be hoping for a strong result as will 2019 junior World Champion Charlie Aldridge. Enduro racer Elliott Heap will have another crack at the 4X World Championships following the silver medal he won in Val di Sole in 2019. Finally, it's great to see Tracey Moseley back at her first Championships since 2012 as she races in the eMTB category.

One big name from Britain that won't be making the trip over is recently crowned Olympic Champion and two-time World Champion from 2020, Tom Pidcock. Pidcock is currently racing in the Vuelta a Espana, his first road Grand Tour that runs until September 5 so was not available for selection. The full team for all disciplines is listed below

bigquotesThe world championships is undoubtedly a highlight of the racing calendar, and with so many podium contenders in the squad I’m looking forward to a brilliant five days of racing.

“It’s been brilliant to watch the emergence of a new and exciting generation of riders over recent years, culminating in Great Britain taking six of the top 11 places in the junior men’s downhill event at last year’s world championships. With the new long-term plan for the gravity disciplines we announced earlier this year and the expansion of our talent development hub activities, the future is incredibly bright.—Michael Vickers, British Cycling’s Mountain Bike Downhill and Four-Cross Co-ordinator

bigquotesThanks to the fantastic performances by both Evie and Tom Pidcock at the Olympic Games, mountain bike is firmly on the British public’s radar, and this gives the team an extra boost as we approach this year’s world championships.

“Evie will be carrying with her the momentum she built for the Games, and I think we can expect to see some strong performances from other members of the team across the categories too, with their training targeted to this race.

“I’ll also be looking for the junior and under-23 riders to make the most of being teammates with Evie, and indeed Annie Last who has a history of major event race results to her name. These world championships will offer an invaluable development opportunity to these riders.—Stephen Park, Performance Director for the Great Britain Cycling Team

British Cycling's 2021 World Championships Squad:

Downhill

Elite Women

Stacey Fisher
Mikayla Parton
Tahnée Seagrave
Katherine Sharp
Elite Men

Joe Breeden
Laurie Greenland
Danny Hart
Charlie Hatton
Bernard Kerr
Matt Walker
Greg Williamson
Reece Wilson

Junior Women

Phoebe Gale
Junior Men

Ryan Brannen
William Brodie
Ethan Craik
Dennis Luffman
Jack Piercy
Connor Smith
Jordan Williams
Preston Williams


Cross-country

Elite Women

Annie Last
Evie Richards
Isla Short
Elite Men

Under-23 Women

Harriet Harnden
Anna Kay

Under-23 Men

Charlie Aldridge
Harry Birchill
Cam Orr


Junior Men

Joe Blackmore
Corran Carrick-Anderson
Nathan Smith
Junior Women

Ella Maclean-Howell
Elena McGorum


Four-cross

Elite Women

Josie McFall
Elite Men

Scott Beaumont
Charlie Currie
Will Evans
Elliott Heap
Connor Hudson
Zac Hudson
Daniel Wagstaff


eMTB

Women

Harriet Harnden
Tracy Moseley
Karen Pepper
Men


Posted In:
Racing and Events Danny Hart Evie Richards Reece Wilson Tahnee Seagrave World Championships 2021


Author Info:
jamessmurthwaite avatar

Member since Nov 14, 2018
1,770 articles
Report
Must Read This Week
First Look: The Aper KOMPace Has "Rising Pivot Technology"
51099 views
A Sneak Peek at Galfer's Prototype Hydraulic Brakes
42315 views
Intra Drive's Combined Motor & Gearbox Fits Bikes Designed For Shimano EP8 [Updated on expanding into the aftermarket]
38760 views
Slack Randoms: String Drive Bikes, Hydraulic Press Crank Arm Tests, Peter Sagan's Finale Crash & More
37572 views
Review: Berd’s Hawk 30 Wheels Use String Spokes for Impressive Compliance
35632 views
7 Takeaways from the UCI's 2024 Rule Changes
33020 views
KS Release LEV Circuit Wireless Dropper Seat Post
32725 views
Video: GT Factory Racing Says Goodbye in 'Shifting Gears'
30025 views

94 Comments
  • 55 1
 Hopefully Dan Slack can replace Kerr, if he's unable to ride.
  • 19 0
 Good call. I'm also shocked that there isn't a single elite men XC racer either fit/available/qualified. That is a massive embarrassment
  • 7 0
 That lad deserves a go for sure, his Maribor run was mega.
  • 3 0
 @chillescarpe: Would love to know the reason; Fraser is the National champion - and won a UK XC series race the weekend gone. Maybe he doesn't qualify, as his ranking isn't good enough?? Or they just decided not to pick him, for whatever reason.
  • 4 5
 @Starch-Anton: And no E-mtb men Elite either, to have no male representation when there is a huge pool of talent is weird from a country supposedly investing in the sport.
  • 20 1
 @chillescarpe: Rob Warner should represent UK in eMTB worlds.
  • 1 0
 Too soon, I mean the 44 rider list.
  • 1 0
 Breedon, Hatton, Kerr, & Williamson are all injured...
  • 22 0
 Wonder if Dan Slack was left out because of his team manager Jack Reading's comments regarding the lack of support that BC provided to DH at last years World Champs? That interview on Making up the Numbers was quite an eye opener.
  • 16 0
 Either BC have no idea what they’re doing or this was decided before Maribor and nobody decided to check the results and injury list, either way total incompetence from BC.
  • 6 0
 @jimmythehat: Possibly both
  • 3 1
 You got a link to this?
  • 1 1
 Or maybe it was just the other riders were performing better than he was?
  • 2 2
 @cypher74: "were" being the critical word in your sentence, not now and probably not going forward...
  • 8 0
 @jimmythehat: Would you expect anything less than total incompetence from BC when it comes to anything that isn't track / road cycling?
  • 3 0
 @jimmythehat:

Breedon, Hatton, Kerr, & Williamson are all injured...
  • 1 0
 @fartymarty: Better not read the whole background of BC for BMX racing then.
Lets just say, there ended up being a Gold Medal out of it
  • 1 1
 @Drawn: give us a quick overview. I haven't read it.
  • 1 0
 @fartymarty: singletrackworld.com/2020/10/making-up-the-numbers-camille-balanche-david-trummer-dan-slack-dh-world-championship-review

In the latest Making up the Numbers podcast Jack Reading explains that selection was done before the final World Cup, which is why Dan Slack wasn't selected.
  • 24 1
 I'll race the e-bike category if no one else is going for it. On a completely un-related subject, who sells the best de-restrictors for e-bikes that can't be detected?
  • 3 8
flag timbud (Aug 17, 2021 at 5:09) (Below Threshold)
 They can all be detected
  • 1 3
 Seems like a great opportunity for the vets to dabble in some racing action; Peaty FTW! Doubt it'll get RBtv coverage so even Warner could have a crack between the tapes again
  • 2 0
 @ROOTminus1: Is there no masters field anymore? I recall Nigel Page won that once, but I think he got stripped from that title later on. Would be cool to see a masters field and then see Fabien Barel, Cedric Gracia, Peaty and Nigel Page have a go. Unless Greg Minnaar turns 40 in the meantime and runs away with the title Wink .
  • 2 0
 @ROOTminus1: Peaty is still flippin good on a regular bike, no need for him to race the eeb. Put him in the elite field!
  • 3 0
 @vinay: I think the masters world championships is a separate event.
  • 23 6
 e-mtb is just a joke.
  • 8 0
 What's the "new long term plan for gravity disciplines", was it mentioned somewhere? I felt like the UK used to have a really strong local DH scene with BDS, Dragon series and everything. And ten, fifteen years ago loads of great riders came from that and dominated the World Cup races. So cool to hear if they've got something similar going on again.

As for the athletes mentioned, would be cool to see Phil Atwill up there too. Or would he race for Greece now?
  • 1 0
 A lot of the organisers shut down, guess they just couldn't make the money, especially as riding has shifted more to enduro there seems to be very few downhill races apart from the national series. I remember a few races started struggling to actually get enough people in the run the races.
  • 1 0
 @melonhead1145: Yeah, I that's very understandable. I suppose an enduro race is easier to organize and people also get more time in to actually ride. So that's tough competition. My question was mainly regarding the quote from Michael Vickers who made mention of this "new long term plan for gravity disciplines" (which probably also includes 4X and which is easier to realize). I'm curious what this "new long term plan" is.
  • 3 0
 @vinay: enduro is a great feeder sport into dh as well though
  • 1 0
 @vinay: www.britishcycling.org.uk/about/article/20210623-about-bc-news-New-Gravity-Development-Centres-to-strengthen--pathway-for-aspiring-riders-0 this might help a bit, they are making some venues gravity development centres to give BC funded training to kids from what I can gather. Which is great, but where are the races for them to do?
  • 1 0
 @melonhead1145: Thanks for the link. Sounds like a cool program, to have coaching like that. I think they can always organize a race every now and then but yeah, I can imagine it would be more inspiring if the British elite racers would compete as well like they did in the old days.
  • 7 0
 Edwards and Slack hopefully replacing the injured riders !?
  • 7 0
 Also Martha Gill is reigning 4x uk champ....
  • 3 1
 Glad someone’s mentioned Martha after her performance in 4X .I thought that was one of the main names missing ..Disgraceful
  • 2 0
 @commer13: national champs was not part of the selection window, the team had been picked ahead of that weekend. A friend of mine confirmed who had been selected at the champs weekend. I won't say who as riders who are picked cannot announce they have been chosen before the official press release.....
  • 1 0
 @themop: Fair enough but a really shame .
  • 1 0
 @commer13: there is always next year
  • 5 0
 Yeah, picking the names just ahead of a national competition to decide who's the best 4x seems odd.
  • 2 0
 @johnny2shoes: doesn't really make sense, especially as its been so long since the previous national champs
  • 3 0
 @johnny2shoes: I get that, but there were 4 rounds of the British 4x undertaken and a 4xProTour that would have been within the consideration window. So there was a data pool.

Furthermore you need to apply to be on the team, I don't think being national champ overcomes that as national champions have gone unselected before (Luke Limbrick in 2010 comes to mind). Might be incorrect though, just saying it's happened before....
  • 2 0
 @themop: Ah damn you and your well informed opinion! Looking at results Josie is a completely fair choice.Good luck!
  • 2 0
 @johnny2shoes: yeah, Josie is a damn good rider, it was close at Redhill between her and Martha, they both cased the same jump but Josie was on the side with less of a landing pad and came off worse..... There was hope Sophie Cade could make it over there but she is injured....

Word through the grapevine is that Martha has other commitments and can't attend world's.

Not a cheap trip this year, covid tests plus carnets have added 5-600 to the cost of attending...
  • 10 6
 Surely Kade over Dan? Dan’s only just qualified for his first senior WC.

If both Joe and Bernard are out, I’d go for Kade and Phil to replace.

Dan’s time will come!
  • 18 6
 Kade never showed Top ten speed
  • 10 0
 @jimmythehat: He was 9th at Les Gets... Currently 5th highest ranked UK rider.
  • 8 2
 @petescullion: Rain effected, more like 28th on a usual day
  • 1 1
 He got 10th at Maribor that's a bit more than "just qualified". Also, wasn't a top ten an automatic entry for GB riders?
  • 3 1
 @jimmythehat: Seems like you've got some anti-Kade beef? If you actually look at the results like I just did you'd see that Kade beat Matt Walker fair and square in both Les Gets and Leogang. At Leogang he was within 1.5 seconds of Kerr, Williamsons and Hatton and like I said beat Matt Walked. In Les Gets , although rain affected, Kade had same conditions as Matt Walker, Joe Breeden, Phil Atwill, Greg Williamsons and beat them all. As a former junior world champion, with factory support it would be a smart move to give him a chance and with Hatton, Williamson, Breeden & Kerr all carrying injuries it's even smarter to give Kade!
  • 2 0
 @MrNally: Nothing against him at all, just stating the facts, on a level playing field he isn’t getting in the top ten. Would be very happy if he did.
  • 1 0
 @jimmythehat: Top 3 style, though....
  • 2 0
 @jimmythehat: on a level playing field in 2021 he has consistently beaten half of the selected GB team so deserves a place at world Champs IMHO. Especially considering the injured riders
  • 1 0
 @MrNally: When did I say he didn’t deserve a place? If you remember you jumped into a thread about who had the best result Kade or Slack that’s all it was about.
  • 5 0
 Why announce injured riders?
  • 9 4
 Because MTB for British cycling is an afterthought and they probably didn't check.
  • 2 0
 @mluk2004: Surely if BC pumped a fraction of the money into MTB as they do into road / track it would have a big payback as MTB isn't at the same level of £££ as road / track.
  • 2 0
 Not a huge race fan and no dog in the UK fight as a Canadian...but as a passive follower of the enthusiastic and seemingly honest insta of Isla Short I hope she's in good form and leaves it all out on the track.
  • 5 0
 Slack got robbed!
  • 2 0
 Last year (maybe or 2019..COVID) Becci Skelton was not selected while reigning UK DH champ but this year KJ Sharp is???? not sure this adds up....
  • 1 0
 You need to apply to go. Not saying that was the reason but it might have been....
  • 2 1
 I know it's easy to criticise BC - and with good reason in a lot of cases relating to MTB - but credit to them for taking so many DH juniors this year. Assuming they are paying of course.
  • 3 0
 So we have an eMTB world champs but no enduro world champs
  • 2 0
 Slightly shit for the sport when the olympic champion wont race world champs
  • 1 0
 I think he is road racing and doing the La Vuelta in Spain at the moment.
  • 7 5
 Bernard gonna make it with his hand? #MakeCathroAnAlternate
  • 4 1
 Was waiting for someone to say Cathro, Dan Slack has 100% earned a place at worlds!
  • 4 2
 Breeden?! Why not Slack????
  • 3 0
 Joe has shown consistent speed and potential to get on the podium. Dan's just put in an incredible performance but this list wasn't drawn up yesterday. Dunno if Joe will be healed up in time, but he's clearly working hard to come back.
  • 2 0
 @chakaping: I just don't see why they'd pick an injured rider in the hopes they'll be fit, over a rider (Slack) who has clearly been showing pace ever since moving into the elite class
  • 3 0
 T-MO
  • 17 0
 T-eMO
  • 1 0
 @Glisseur: clever boy!
  • 3 0
 How about brendan?
  • 2 2
 Hey @pinkbike, has anyone been following the choices for the Canadian DH team? Apparently they have not chosen a single elite female rider?
  • 2 0
 They added three female riders yesterday.
  • 2 1
 My money's on Hattie Harden for eMTB world champ. As long as it's not straight after the XC race, obvs.
  • 2 0
 I think they got the wrong Reece...
  • 2 0
 No Pidcock is a shame Best xc rider on the planet
  • 2 0
 Yep, but I guess he's used up all his annual leave from Ineos.
  • 2 0
 COME ON HUDSON!
  • 2 0
 which one?
  • 2 0
 @kernowding10: Connor Big Grin
  • 1 0
 Strong team, good luck to you all!!
  • 1 0
 sory for not being so in depth in here, isnt it all gb?
  • 2 1
 Ireland (Republic of Ireland) - Independent country - member of EU - Part of the British Isles and geographically speaking a part of what is termed "Great Britain"

Northern Ireland - part of the country "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland." - post-brexit a on-EU member - part of the British isles (on the same island as the Republic of Ireland) and (geographically) Great britain and this is what is lumped into the "GB" category when it comes to sport. And when talking "british cycling" this is what is included. Should probably be called "UK" instead of GB, but alas, no.

Confusing? Yes, very.
  • 1 0
 @lowgear: even more confusing unfortunately: British Isles = all of Ireland and all of the mainland (scotland, wales and england). United Kingdom = all the mainland + northern ireland. Great Britain = just the mainland.

www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/newsroom/blog/whats-the-difference-between-uk-britain-and-british-isles
  • 1 0
 @lowgear: good to know i wasnt pissing completely off the pot.. thanks!
  • 1 0
 No Jamie Edmunson? Has he still got issues with his visa?
  • 1 0
 why not Phil Atwill ? c'mon !!!
  • 2 3
 I cannot understand oisin ocalahan (however its written) not being there?
  • 18 0
 'cause he's Irish?
  • 8 0
 @Becciu: A mere technicality. Shame on you BC. What a disgrace etc.
  • 14 0
 I know, it's crazy! On a similar note, why THE HELL didn't Loic Bruni get put on the World Champs team for USA? Can't understand it at all.
  • 1 0
 Thank you for not being an American commenter.







Copyright © 2000 - 2023. Pinkbike.com. All rights reserved.
dv56 0.066186
Mobile Version of Website