British Cycling has announced an 11-rider long list from which their final 8-rider roster for the world championships road race. Chris Froome is expected to lead the team on the hilly course while Bradley Wiggins will focus on the time trial but may ride in a support role in the main event.

Chris Froome is the standout name on the 11-rider long list for the world championships road race that has been published by British Cycling today. The Tour de France winner is set to headline what will be a very strong 8-rider roster for the event.

Towards the end of his Tour campaign, Froome made it clear that he had no intention of resting on the laurels for the rest of the season. With the course in Florence being the hilliest since 1995, the Brit has set his sights on the rainbow jersey and has prepared himself by riding the USA Pro Challenge and will line up at the Canadian world tour races on Friday and Sunday.

Bradley Wiggins has set put the world championships time trial at the centre of his autumn campaign and has put on weight to prepare for the flat power course. Having been included on the long list, he may even ride the road race in a support role 4 days after his main objective. He will use the Tour of Britain as his final preparation race.

Young Josh Edmondson, Steve Cummings, Geraint Thomas and Jonathan Tiernan-Locke all excel on climbs and should be able to deliver able support if they are selected. Alex Dowsett, Ian Stannard, Luke Rowe and sprinter Andy Fenn will all play a role in the early part of the race if they earn their ticket for Florence.

Finally, Mark Cavendish has also made it onto the long list. Earlier this week, the former world champion put his hand up for selection, hoping to get a chance to repay Froome for his hard work in 2011 when Cavendish won his title. Having no personal ambitions on the hilly course, he may help keep things under control in the early part of the race as he did in Limburg last year.

In the time trial, Wiggins will be joined by British champion Dowsett who impressed the world by beating the 2012 Tour champion in the long Giro d'Italia race against the clock.

Performance manager Shane Sutton is confident in his team.

“I think the selection of the elite teams speak for themselves, we’ve got Olympic medallists, Tour de France winners and former world champions all in the mix and I think we could do well across the board there," he said.

The road race takes plane on September 20 while the time trial will be held 4 days earlier.

Great Britain long list for the world championships

Mark Cavendish
Steve Cummings
Alex Dowsett
Josh Edmondson
Andy Fenn
Chris Froome
Luke Rowe
Ian Stannard
Geraint Thomas
Jon Tiernan Locke
Bradley Wiggins

Great Britain for the world championships time trial

Bradley Wiggins

Alex Dowsett