2013 Cycling Thread

Vuelta a España - Race unveils punishing route

Alberto Contador declared "it will be war" after he studied the route for this year's Vuelta a Espana race which will feature a record 11 summit finishes for a Grand Tour.
Organisers unveiled the route on Saturday which will begin on August 24 in Galicia's rugged Rias Baixas regions. Riders will have to tackle a first category mountain-top finish as soon as stage two.
They then face three summit finishes in Andalusia, three in the Pyrenees before culminating in the 13 km Angliru, reputedly Spain's most difficult climb.
"It will be war right from the second stage and it's going to be very, very hard," last year's winner Alberto Contador said.
"It's true that many of the stages are short but they've put the toughest climbs in the last 40 or 50 kilometres and that's when the overall contenders are fighting the hardest.
"We saw last year that race-winning attacks can happen on all kinds of stages, but we will have to be in good shape right from the start of the race. There are no quiet moments."
Fellow Spaniard, Joaquim Rodriguez, the world's top ranked rider, added: "It'll be survival of the fittest."
This year's race will enter unexplored territory when the opening 27 km team time trial starts on a giant raft, used usually for seafood farming in one of Galicia's many fjords.
"Starting on one of these rafts is a great recognition of our seafaring tradition," said regional president Alberto Feijoo at the presentation in a theatre in central Vigo, which concluded with live music by dozens of Galician bagpipers, drummers and local flautist Carlos Nunez.
Running anti-clockwise along Spain's edges, riders will have to conquer a 16km final ascent at Estepona's coastal resort on stage eight before turning north for the individual time trial at Tarazona and three brutally difficult days in the Pyrenees.
The final showdown will come 24 hours before the finish in Madrid on September 15, with the ascent of the infamous Angliru in western Asturias, the climb which decided the race both in 2008 and 2011.
"It's not one for time triallists like me, it's going to be for born climbers," five-times Tour de France winner Miguel Indurain said. "Even the time trial is hilly.
"Of course it's a bit risky (having so many mountains) but it's what the organisers have been doing in the last few years and for the moment it's worked out well."

Durbridge time trials to victory at Australian Road Champs

Luke Durbridge took his second Australian national title as he won the Australian national road title in Buninyong on Sunday.
Durbridge, of Orica GreenEdge, was part of an early breakaway that reached a maximum lead of over seven minutes, and he bided his time to prevail in a time of 5:00.46.
The Australian eventually rode the final lap and a half of the Geelong Road circuit on his own, and was able to savour his fine win down the finishing straight.
"The last six km was one of the most amazing feelings I have ever had," Durbridge said at the finish.
"It’s special to do the double. Everyone has pointed out that I am the first, and I guess that makes it even more special. My focus has been to win the time trial. With that done, I wanted to do my job for the team in the road race. My job became to win for the team. I’m happy I could pull off the win."
Michael Matthews, also of Orica GreenEdge, won the sprint for silver, while Garmin-Sharp’s Steele Von Hoff took bronze.
Pre-race favourite Will Walker (Drapac) suffered a puncture around the 60km mark, and a number of team-mates slowed to wait for their leader, but it was Durbridge’s day.

Robert takes opening stage of Tropicale Amissa Bongo

Lotto-Belisol's Frederique Robert won the opening stage of the La Tropicale Amissa Bongo in a sprint finish.
The 23-year-old former Belgian junior track champion prevailed at the end of a 149.2km stage from Bitam in Gabon to Ebolowa in Cameroon.
The eighth edition of Africa's only 2.1 rated race by the UCI sees nine African national teams join UCI ProTeams Lampre-Merida and Lotto-Belisol plus Europcar, Cofidis, Groupement Sportif Oil and MTN-Qhubeka in the seven-day race.
An early seven-man break built up an advantage of over two minutes before Ilboundo (Burkina Faso) and Ekobena (Gabon) escaped from that group, only to be caught.
With 20km remaining it was Azzedine Lagab (Groupement Sportif Oil) out in front but it was Robert who claimed his first professional victory.

Kennaugh admits to missing Cavendish

Peter Kennaugh admits he sorely misses fellow Manxman Mark Cavendish's presence at Team Sky as he prepares for a season on the road after spending virtually the past year on the track.
The 23-year-old chose to focus primarily on the team pursuit in 2012, a decision that reaped golden rewards as he helped Britain first win the world title and then the Olympic crown.
Kennaugh did it in style too as the British quartet set a world record on the way to global gold in Australia in April before twice lowering that mark at the London 2012 Olympics.
But, with 2012 making way for 2013, Kennaugh's attentions have changed and he has a busy schedule planned with the Giro d'Italia in May his main focus at present.
Kennaugh, who made his Giro debut in 2011, will start his season with the Tour of Oman but insists Cavendish's departure to Omega Pharma-Quick Step has been felt in pre-season.
"I already sort of miss him. He's such a big character, and such a personality, it's so different without him," said Cavendish.
"He always lightens the mood up a bit, he always rips people and takes the piss, so I do miss having him around, a lot
"I'm doing the Giro again this year, so that's my main focus early on. I'll start with Oman, and then Tirreno, Catalunya, and the Ardennes Classics.
"I'd really like to have good form for that. Then ten days later you've got the Giro, so it comes thick and fast really."

Lance Armstrong visits Livestrong Foundation to apologise

Lance Armstrong on Monday visited the Austin, Texas, office of the cancer foundation he started to personally apologise to the staff of about 100 people.
"He had a private conversation with the staff, who have done the important work of the foundation for many years," said foundation spokeswoman Katherine McLane.
The apology came on the day that Armstrong was scheduled to tape an interview with Oprah Winfrey to air on Thursday -- his first interview since being stripped of his seven Tour de France titles.
The disgraced cyclist plans to admit in the interview to doping throughout his career, USA Today reported on Saturday.

Retiring Cooke blasts doping cheats
Olympic road race champion Nicole Cooke has announced her retirement from professional cycling.

The 29-year-old, who won gold in Beijing in 2008, revealed her decision at a press conference in London and blasted the dopers who have blighted the sport.
"I am very happy with my career. I have many, many happy memories over what has been my life's work since I was 12," said Cooke.
"I have won every race and more that I dreamed I could win. I am so very fortunate to have been able to have won clean. I have been robbed by drug cheats, but I am fortunate, I am here before you with more in my basket that the 12 year old dreamed of.
"But for many genuine people out there who do ride clean, people with morals, many of these people have had to leave the sport with nothing after a lifetime of hard work.
"When Lance (Armstrong) cries on Oprah later this week and she passes him a tissue, spare a thought for all of those genuine people who walked away with no reward.
"Tyler Hamilton will make more money from a book describing how he cheated than I will make in all my years of honest labour."
The Welsh star won the British road race on 10 consecutive occasions, claimed gold at the 2002 Commonwealth Games, triumphed in La Grande Boucle Féminine – the women’s Tour de France - in 2006 and 2007 and also won the World Championship road race in 2008.
But Cooke, who was awarded an MBE in 2009, has not won a UCI race since April.
"I hope I will look on in 10 years' time and see a vibrant and healthy women's road scene. The key to that will be that the female athletes are treated with respect," she concluded.

Palini wins in Cameroon

Andrea Palini of Lampre-Merida claimed stage two of the La Tropicale Amissa Bongo in a sprint finish.
The Italian beat Vicente Reynes (Lotto-Belisol) to the line in a bunch sprint at the end of a 112km stage in the capital of Cameroon, Yaounde.
The 23-year-old Palini, who was third in the opening stage, takes the overall race lead from Monday’s stage winner Frederique Robert.
"This is a very important victory for me since it's so important to start the new experience in the team in a winning way," Palini commented.
"I also appreciate the joy of a victory in such an unconventional cycling atmosphere."
The eighth edition of Africa's only 2.1 rated race by the UCI sees nine African national teams join UCI ProTeams Lampre-Merida and Lotto-Belisol plus Europcar, Cofidis, Groupement Sportif Oil and MTN-Qhubeka in the seven-day race.
Janse Van Rensburg (MTN-Qhubeka) and Abdelmalek Madani (Groupement Sportif Oil) escaped early and opened up a 5:30 lead after 50km..
But Lotto-Belisol and Lampre-Merida did some hard chasing and the duo were caught with 8km remaining to set up the bunch gallop to the line.
French duo Adrien Petit (Cofidis) and Yohann Gene (Europcar) plus Eritrea's Meron Amanuel completed the top five.

Katusha receive Professional Continental license

The UCI has officially confirmed the registration of Katusha as a professional continental team.
The Russian team have been denoted to the second tier of professional cycling after the UCI rejected their application to compete in the World Tour.
Last week, Katusha's emergency bid for a World Tour licence was turned down by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Katusha, who finished second in the World Tour standings in 2012 and have world number one Joaquim Rodriguez of Spain riding for them, missed out on the World Tour after a UCI independent licence commission made a decision based on sporting, ethical, administrative and financial grounds.
The decision means Katusha will need invitations to take part in the Tour de France and several top one-day and one-week races.
The Giro d'Italia have already ignored Katusha for the season's first Grand Tour, handing their four wild cards to other teams, and the team are still waiting for a final decision from CAS on their appeal.

UCI would ask repentant Armstrong to testify

Lance Armstrong would be asked to testify to the commission investigating allegations made against the International Cycling Union if reports about his doping confession are true, world cycling's governing body has said.
The American - stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and banned for life - has finally admitted using performance-enhancing drugs in an interview with Oprah Winfrey to be aired on Thursday, USA Today reported.
The UCI set up an independent commission after the United States Anti-Doping Agency report which led to Armstrong's fall from grace said the 41-year-old had told former team-mates he made a positive test go away with a payment to the UCI in 2001.
The UCI acknowledged it received a $100,000 donation in 2002 but has denied the money was part of covering up a positive test.
"The UCI will not be making any further comments on matters concerning Lance Armstrong until it has had the opportunity to view his much publicised interview with Oprah Winfrey," the body said in a statement.
"The UCI notes the media speculation surrounding the interview and reports that he has finally come clean and admitted doping during his cycling career.
"If these reports are true, we would strongly urge Lance Armstrong to testify to the independent commission established to investigate the allegations made against the UCI in the recent USADA reasoned decision."
The independent commission, chaired by former International Court of Appeal judge Philip Otton, is set to hold a hearing on the matter in London in April and will submit its report to the UCI by June 1, 2013, or shortly afterwards.


Oprah: Armstrong's comments on doping not as expected

Lance Armstrong finally has confronted his alleged use of performance-enhancing drugs during his cycling career, though he "did not come clean in the manner that I expected," talk show host Oprah Winfrey said a day after interviewing the disgraced athlete.
Armstrong, 41, has always vehemently denied using the drugs and had never tested positive in a doping test. But the evidence against him has been overwhelming and pressure has been building on him to admit that he cheated.
USA Today reported on Monday that Armstrong had confessed to the doping in the interview with Winfrey, which will air on Thursday and Friday on her OWN Network, and other media say they have confirmed the report.
In an appearance on CBS' "This Morning" show on Tuesday, Winfrey did not explicitly say that Armstrong had confessed during their interview, though she said the media had confirmed it.
"I think the most important questions and answers that people around the world have been waiting to hear were answered," Winfrey said of the interview, which occurred at a hotel in Austin, Texas, and lasted more than two hours.
"We were mesmerized and riveted by some of his answers," said Winfrey, who described Armstrong's demeanour as thoughtful and serious and at times emotional.
When asked why the American cyclist, who had his seven Tour de France titles stripped last year, agreed to the interview, Winfrey said: "I think he was just ready." She added that she would allow others to decide if he had shown contrition.
A cancer survivor who went on to become the greatest cyclist the world has seen, Armstrong's fall from grace has been as swift and spectacular as his rise through the French Alps.
While Armstrong was long dogged by accusations he cheated his way to the top, his rapid slide was ultimately triggered by an October report from the U.S. anti-doping body USADA.
USADA exposed Armstrong as a liar and a cheat, describing him as the ringmaster of the "most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen," involving anabolic steroids, human growth hormone, blood transfusions and other doping.
Media reports of the interview with Winfrey have not identified which drugs he reportedly admitted using. Armstrong's attorney and his spokesman did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the reports on Monday.
Armstrong, however, apologized on Monday to the staff of the cancer foundation he started over difficulties they may have experienced because of the doping controversy.
"It was a very sincere and heartfelt expression of regret over any stress that they've suffered over the course of the last few years as a result of the media attention," Livestrong Foundation spokeswoman Katherine McLane said on Monday.
CBS has reported that Armstrong indicated he might be willing to testify against others involved in illegal doping and was in talks about repaying part of the taxpayer money he earned during his career.
Former Armstrong teammates at his U.S. Postal and Discovery Channel outfits, where he won his seven successive Tour de France titles from 1999 to 2005, testified against him as well as admitting to their own wrongdoing.
The mountain of evidence was overwhelming, and when Armstrong decided not to fight the charges against him, his Tour de France victories were quickly nullified. He was banned from cycling for life.
His sponsors, who had remained loyal to him, began deserting him and he stood down as chairman of Livestrong. Legal issues began to mount.
His former team-mate Floyd Landis, a self-confessed cheat, filed a lawsuit against him for defrauding the U.S. government, while the London-based Sunday Times is suing Armstrong to recover about $500,000 it paid him to settle a libel lawsuit.
Armstrong could also be forced to pay back amounts including $7.5 million to SCA Promotions, a Dallas-based company that paid him a bonus for his Tour de France wins.
Throughout it all, Armstrong remained silent, unrepentant and seemingly unconcerned as the cycling world was left reeling by the revelations. He agreed last week to the interview with Winfrey.

Cycling 'could be dropped' from Olympics with Armstrong admission

Cycling could be dumped from the Olympic program if Lance Armstrong implicated the sport's governing body of covering up a widespread doping scheme, according to IOC member Dick Pound.
Pound said the IOC might be left with no choice other than to take drastic action if Armstrong was able to prove the International Cycling Union (UCI) had acted improperly.
"We could say, 'look, you've clearly got a problem why don't we give you four years, eight years to sort it out," Pound said.
"And when you think you're ready come on back we'll see whether it would be a good idea to put you back on the program."
A former head of the World Anti-Doping Agency, Pound said it was clear the IOC needed to take matters into its own hands in the wake of the Lance Armstrong doping scandal.
"The only way it (cycling) is going to clean up is if all these people say 'hey, we're no longer in the Olympics and that's where we want to be so let's earn our way back into it,'" Pound said.
"The IOC would have to deal with it, the (UCI) is not known for its strong actions to anti-doping.
"It was the same in weightlifting a few years ago, all of a sudden when you get right up against it things go fuzzy and they say, 'well, we can't punish innocent athletes in these sports by dropping the sport from the program.'"
Pound made his comments after talk show host Oprah Winfrey confirmed media reports that Armstrong admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs in an interview that was taped on Monday.
The full details will not be known until the interview is broadcast on Thursday and Friday although CBS reported that Armstrong indicated he might be willing to testify against others.
"You have to wait to see to what degree he has admitted, to what degree he is prepared to help," said Pound.
"Some of the press reports I've seen say he had a lot of help from high cycling officials and he is willing to tell all about that."
Pound helped start up WADA and headed up the IOC ethics committee that cleaned up the organization following the Salt Lake City Olympic corruption scandal.
But the Canadian lawyer said any possible changes to cycling's status were unlikely to happen until after the next IOC presidential election, in August this year.
"I don't think under the current administration, that has only a year left, that anything that drastic would happen but maybe under a new president would say 'alright, we've got this started now once and for all let's send out a message,'"
WADA, founded after the Festina doping affair in the 1998 Tour de France, has long been critical of the UCI's handling of doping in the sport with Pound routinely slamming cycling bosses.
Despite agreeing that Armstrong cheated his way to the top, USADA and the UCI have continued to trade thinly veiled insults.
UCI president Pat McQuaid said the U.S.Anti-Doping Agency, whose damning investigation led to Armstrong's downfall, should have handed over its dossier on the disgraced American to a neutral investigator and that anti-doping agencies needed to share the blame because their tests failed to catch him.
USADA responded by saying the UCI's banning of Armstrong was not the end of the problem because USADA's investigation showed that doping was rife in professional cycling.
In a recent interview on 60 Minutes Sports, USADA chief Travis Tygart said that the UCI had wrongfully accepted $100,000 gift from Armstrong.
"That (a possible cover-up) could be an even bigger story and that is still to come," said Pound.
"There will be a lot of people watching for that and if in fact there was assistance from the UCI and Lance describes it, that could be the real assistance he could give to the fight and result in a reduction of his life sentence (from competition)."

Man, listening to the shit Lance Armstrong said he was using reminds me of horse racing.

The stuff he used (EPO, Testosterone, etc.) is the same shit trainers pump into racehorses, come up positive and get (in some cases) suspended for.

Like I've said before, Cycling is no different than horse racing and just as dirty....

Can't say his admission took balls.

He made himself look even more of an arrogant prick in the interview.

Also, Armstrong associates alledgedly threatened to beat the wife of a former team mate with a baseball bat, in order to keep her mouth shut. Not to mention other team mates, friends etc his legal team has sued and ruined financially, that were only wanting to tell the truth.

In some of Armstrong's TDF wins I think about 7 of the top riders have been busted for artifical assistance at some point. It's not the fact he cheated that I find most annoying, it's Armstrongs attitude towards his doping offence.

14/01 - 20/01 - Tour du Gabon Results

Winner of Stage 3 - Gert Dockx
Winner of Stage 4 - Adrien Petit
Winner of Stage 5 - Frédérique Robert
Winner of Stage 6 - Yohann Gène
Winner of Stage 7 - Gert Dockx

Winner of General Classification - Yohann Gène

22/01 - 27/01 - Tour Down Under Results

Winner of Stage 1 - André Greipel
Winner of Stage 2 - Geraint Thomas
Winner of Stage 3 - Tom-Jelte Slagter
Winner of Stage 4 - André Greipel
Winner of Stage 5 - Simon Gerrans
Winner of Stage 6 - André Greipel

Winner of General Classification - Tom-Jelte Slagter


Gerrans storms to home win on Australia Day

Simon Gerrans delivered a home victory on Australia Day, winning stage five of the Tour Down Under in Willunga.
The Orica-GreenEdge rider narrowly beat Tom-Jelte Slagter (Blanco) in an uphill sprint to win his team's first stage win of 2013.
However Slagter took the overall lead and has a 13-second cushion heading into Sunday's final stage in Adelaide.
A picturesque stage through South Australia's wine country saw several attempted breakaways - the most persistent was led by Javier Moreno (Movistar), who was caught inside the least kilometre when Gerrans and Slagter powered away from the peloton.
Slagter appeared to be in pole position for the win but Gerrans reeled the young Dutchman in.
Gerrans said: “I never gave up until I was right to the line. When the young Blanco guy [Slagter] jumped past us, I had to get on his wheel and come past him on the line. I was second here last year, and I won here today. It’s a nice way to round out the week.
“It was an absolutely fantastic crowd today,” he said. “It was bigger than any Tour de France stage. There were people around the whole course cheering us on. It was a great atmosphere.”
Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) dropped from first to fifth in the general classification. He said: "The legs went with around 500 metres to go.
"The boys did a great ride and then Edvald (Boasson Hagen) did a good turn at the end. I should have just swung over maybe and got someone else to work but I ended up pulling for a bit and I was a bit empty after that. Gerrans came past a bit too fast for me to get on his wheel and I went backwards from there.


Slagter triumphs in Tour Down Under

Dutch cyclist Tom-Jelte Slagter won the overall title at the Tour Down Under on Sunday for his first major victory as Germant sprint ace Andre Greipel claimed the final stage in Adelaide for his 100th career win.
Slagter entered the final stage with a 13-second cushion over Spaniard Javier Moreno and all he needed was to stay out of trouble.
The Dutch 23-year-old rookie did exactly that over the 90 kilometre city circuit to finish 17 seconds ahead of Moreno.
Olympic team pursuit gold medallist Geraint Thomas, who surrendered the overall lead to Slagter on Saturday and slipped to the fifth place, was third, 25 seconds back.
Lotto-Beliso rider Greipel staved off Slagter's Blanco team mate Mark Renshaw's challenge to claim a record 14th Tour Down Under stage victory that came a week after his triumph at People's Choice Classic.

Contador rules out Giro, focus on Tour de France

Alberto Contador is not planning to ride the Giro d'Italia in May and will focus fully on the Tour de France starting at the end of June, the Spaniard was quoted as saying on Saturday.
"There will be no Giro for me," Contador, who won the race in 2008, was quoted as saying in Spanish media on the sidelines of the Tour de San Luis in Argentina.
"I was at the Giro in 2011 and I have very good memories of the race but this year I want to go at 100 percent at the Tour (de France) and after that I'll see if I go to the (Tour of Spain)," added the Saxo-Tinkoff rider.
"The Giro is a very special race for me but the Tour de France is more important this year."
Contador has won the Tour de France three times but was stripped of his 2010 title after testing positive for an illegal substance. He returned from a two-year doping ban in August and won the Tour of Spain.

21/01 - 27/01 - Tour de San Luis Results

Winner of Stage 1 - Mark Cavendish
Winner of Stage 2 - Sacha Modolo
Winner of Stage 3 - Alex Diniz
Winner of Stage 4 - Svein Tuft
Winner of Stage 5 - Emanuel Guevara
Winner of Stage 6 - Alberto Contador
Winner of Stage 7 - Mattia Gavazzi

Winner of General Classification - Daniel Díaz


Gavazzi takes San Luis finale as Diaz wins GC

Mattia Gavazzi (Androni Giocattoli) won the seventh and final stage of the Tour de San Luis as Daniel Diaz (San Luis Somos Todos) completed the overall victory.
Italian Gavazzi won a bunch sprint to close out the event after a 154.7km trek from San Luis to Juana Koslay.
Diaz stayed out of danger however, with the Argentine finishing 33 seconds ahead of Tejay van Garderen (BMC) in general classification.
It was a sweet win for Diaz in front of his home fans as he went one better than last year when he finished second in GC to American Levi Leipheimer

Stage seven result

1 Mattia Gavazzi (Ita) Androni Giocattoli 3:25:48

2 Peter Sagan (Svk) Cannondale Pro Cycling

3 Francisco Jose Ventoso (Spa) Movistar Team

4 Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) Lampre-Merida

5 Bartiomiej Matysiak (Pol) CCC Polsat Polkowice

Final GC

1 Daniel Díaz (Arg) San Luis Somos Todos 20:37:28

2 Tejay Van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing +33

3 Alex Diniz (Bra) FUNVIC +39

4 Alberto Contador (Spa) Saxo - Tinkoff +1:02

5 Jurgen Van den Broeck (Bel) Lotto +1:47

GP La Marseillaise

Top 10

1 Justin Jules (FRA) VC La Pomme

2 Samuel Dumoulin (FRA) AG2R

3 Thomas Damuseau (FRA) Argos

4 Anthony Roux (FRA) FDJ

5 Sander Armee (BEL) Topsport Vlaanderen

6 Maxime Bouet (FRA) AG2R

7 Maxime Vantomme (BEL) Crelan

8 Warren Barguil (FRA) Argos

9 Björn Leukemans (BEL) Vacansoleil

10 Pieter Vanspeybrouck (BEL) Topsport Vlaanderen

Bak set for wrist surgery

Lotto Belisol rider Lars Bak will undergo wrist surgery after a heavy crash in the GP la Marseillaise on Sunday.
Bak crashed towards the end of the race, and subsequent scans revealed a fracture in the scaphoid, one of the eight carpal bones that is often injured when landing on an outstretched hand. His surgery will take place on Tuesday.
The team have brought in Jonas Van Genechten to replace Bak in the upcoming Etoile de Bessèges, which starts on Wednesday.
The 32-year-old Bak will escape having his arm in plaster, but will instead require a screw to be inserted into his wrist which should ensure a relatively speedy recovery.

Rowsell: Pursuit trio will win without me

Olympic champion Joanna Rowsell insists Great Britain's women's team pursuit will be as strong as ever this year despite her absence.
Rowsell joined forces with Dani King and Laura Trott at London 2012 to claim team pursuit gold, adding to the world title the trio picked up en route to the capital.
That Track Cycling World Championships gold was Great Britain's fourth in five years but if they are to make it five out of six then they will have to do so without Rowsell after she opted to focus on the road this year.
The women's team pursuit is changing from three riders and three kilometres to four riders and four kilometres after this season, and 24-year-old Rowsell is expected to slip back in for the 2014 season and the Rio Olympics.
But in the meantime her place at next month's World Championships in Minsk is likely to go to either Elinor Barker, who rode in Rowsell's place in November's Glasgow Track World Cup, or Amy Roberts.
And Rowsell is adamant that whoever gets the nod to ride with King and Trott will do the business.
"I'm fully confident they're going to win," three-time world champion Rowsell said. "They won the Glasgow World Cup with very limited preparation.
"Seeing Elinor ride there made me think 'it's okay, they're going to be fine'.
"Elinor's a fantastic talent and also Amy Roberts. Riders like Elinor and Amy need that sort of experience because next year we're going to need four riders anyway."