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After finishing second and fourth in the most recent world championship road races, Michael Matthews will lead the Australian team in 2017. Cycling Australia has announced the line-ups for the championships to be contested in Bergen, Norway, later this month.

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Cycling Australia has announced its selection for the upcoming world championships in Bergen, Norway (16-24 September). The final event on the program is the men’s road race, with Australia’s Michael Matthews as one of the favourites for the rainbow jersey in 2017.

The rider from Canberra won two stages and the points classification at the 2017 Tour de France and he will be well assisted by a strong line-up that includes two other ACT riders, Mathew Hayman and Rory Sutherland.

One notable absence from the line-up named earlier today is another rider from the ACT, Nathan Haas.

Also missing is the silver medallist from the road race in 2014, Simon Gerrans.

“This is a course that suits my strengths,” Matthews told RIDE about the undulating circuit in Norway.

Matthews will turn 27 two days after the road race. He has won the silver medal in the world championships before, finishing behind Peter Sagan in 2015.

Sagan is the two-time champion of the men’s road race, winning successive titles in 2015 and 2016.

The full line-up for Australian team for the men’s road race is (in alphabetical order):

  • Simon Clarke (VIC) Cannondale-Drapac
  • Mitch Docker (VIC) Orica-Scott
  • Luke Durbridge (WA) Orica-Scott
  • Jack Haig (VIC) Orica-Scott
  • Heinrich Haussler (NSW) Bahrain-Merida
  • Mathew Hayman (ACT) Orica-Scott
  • Michael Matthews (ACT) Team Sunweb
  • Jay McCarthy (QLD) Bora-Hansgrohe
  • Rory Sutherland (ACT) Movistar

 

Australia is ranked sixth in the UCI world rankings and can field a maximum of nine riders in the men’s road race.

The dominant trade team representation comes from the Australian registered Orica-Scott squad, with four riders.

Rohan Dennis, who abandoned the Vuelta a España overnight because of an upper respiratory tract infection has been nominated as the Australian starter for the elite men’s time trial.

RIDE Media has contacted Brad McGee for comment on selection. (More to follow…)

 

 

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Australian women’s team for Bergen 2017

  • Gracie Elvin (ACT) Orica-Scott
  • Katrin Garfoot (QLD) Orica-Scott
  • Shara Gillow (QLD) FDJ
  • Sarah Roy (NSW) Orica-Scott
  • Amanda Spratt (NSW) Orica-Scott

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