Worlds selection boosts Callum Skinner's Rio hopes

Capital cyclist Callum Skinner has earned the nod over his rival Lewis Oliva for next month's World Track Championships in London.

Callum Skinner

The 23-year-old is involved in a three-way battle with Oliva and Matt Crampton to join Philip Hindes and Jason Kenny in the team sprint squad for the Rio Olympics this summer. His selection for the London event – which takes place from March 2-6 – suggests he currently has the upper hand on Oliva. However, the riders have not yet been allocated their racing programmes and Crampton, who is also in the 21-strong Great Britain squad, could contest the team sprint, leaving Skinner to race individual events. The good news for the Scot is that the team has been picked with an eye on Rio as technical director Shane Sutton explained, saying, “We’ve selected the strongest squad available to us for these worlds – we’re in good shape and the team we’ve selected is close to the Olympic model.”

Former City of Edinburgh rider Katie Archibald has recovered from a ruptured ligament sustained in a crash just before Christmas and will line up in the women’s endurance events.