British Cycling announces team for UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships

Jaco van Gass is selected as part of the UCI Para-lympic Cycling World Championship team.

British Cycling has confirmed the team of 14 riders who will represent Great Britain at next month's International Cycling Union (UCI) Para-cycling Track World Championships in Apeldoorn, The Netherlands.

Dame Sarah Storey, who is targeting the hour record later this month, has been picked, along with fellow reigning world champions Jody Cundy, Sophie Thornhill, Neil Fachie and Pete Mitchell.

Stephen Bate, Adam Duggleby, Crystal Lane, Lora Turnham, Lauryn Therin, Helen Scott, and rookies Megan Giglia, Louis Rolfe and Jaco van Gass complete the team for the event which is due to take place between March 26 and 29.

Britain won a total of 18 medals at the recent Newport Para-cycling International at the Wales National Velodrome.

Fachie and tandem partner Craig Maclean, the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games double gold medallists, won both the kilo and sprint at the event, while Cundy set a new personal best in the C4/5 kilo.

There were also gold medals for Lane in the C4/5 pursuit, and Turnham and Therin in the tandem pursuit. 

Van Gass and Rolfe were both part of the bronze medal-winning sprint team, with the former also taking silver in the C4 pursuit and the latter a bronze in the C2 pursuit. 

Giglia claimed two medals, silver in the C3 pursuit and bronze in the C1-3 kilo.

Neil Fachie and pilot Pete Mitchell secured two world titles and two world records at the 2014 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships ©British Cycling

"We have had a strong start to our Paralympic qualifying campaign and have seen some good results at international level," said lead Para-cycling coach Jon Norfolk.

"As well as our existing Paralympic champions who have made selection, it's great to welcome some new riders such as Megan Giglia, Louis Rolfe and Jaco van Gass to the team.

"They all showed some promising performances at the recent Newport Para-cycling International and it's a real testament to the hard work of the coaches on the Para-cycling Development Programme that these riders are now able to represent Great Britain at world level."

Britain dominated last year's UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships in Aguascalientes, Mexico, ending the event as the top-ranked nation with seven gold, one silver and two bronze medals. 

Dame Sarah was responsible for three of the medals, including golds in the C1-C5 10 kilometres scratch race and the C5 pursuit.

Fachie and pilot Mitchell secured two world titles and two world records, triumphing emphatically in the tandem sprint and tandem 1000 metre time trial events. 

Thornhill and pilot Rachel James mirrored the feats of Fachie and Mitchell on their way to winning the equivalent women's events.