 Hoy took silver in the sprint in the second round of the World Cup in Cali |
Olympic champions Sir Chris Hoy and Victoria Pendleton will miss the World Cup event in Beijing to focus on the final leg of the series in Manchester. Despite Olympic qualification points being available at the 21-23 January event, none of the 2008 Beijing Games medallists will return to China. GB Olympic Performance Academy riders mainly make up the 11-strong squad. In addition, Commonwealth Games silver winner Becky James and world medallist Lizzie Armitstead will compete for GB. Armitstead is set to ride in the women's omnium, with James, sprint medallist in Delhi, taking part in the women's sprint events.  | Our podium riders competed in the first two rounds of the World Cup series and are now focused on preparations for the final round in Manchester |
The likes of Pendleton, Hoy and other leading Great Britain riders have been aiming to gain points as early as possible to avoid disrupting their training regimes with long-haul flights in 2012 in the build-up to London. The UCI, cycling's governing body, will use the best results from all eligible riders across the 2011 and 2012 World Championships, World Cup Classics between 2010 and 2012, and the last two Continental Championships. But Great Britain performance manager Shane Sutton explained: "The Track World Cup in Beijing is a great opportunity for the young squad to gain experience at World Cup level against world-class competition. "Our podium riders competed in the first two rounds of the World Cup series and are now focused on preparations for the final round of the World Cup series held at our home velodrome in Manchester, where we're planning on fielding a full-strength squad."  | 606: DEBATE |
The Manchester World Cup event, the fourth and final of the series, will take place from 18-20 February, with the World Championships in Apeldoorn, Netherlands scheduled for 23-27 March. The young team in Beijing will include World Cup debutants Sam Harrison, Simon Yates and Phillip Hindes. Hindes was brought into the British fold this season having been born in and represented Germany as a junior, but the youngster has a British father and is included in a three-man sprint squad alongside David Daniell and Peter Mitchell. Harrison and Yates are in the men's endurance squad alongside Mark Christian, Andrew Fenn, Jon Mould and Erick Rowsell.
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