Mark Cavendish and David Millar will be among the elite to converge on Glasgow for the 2013 British National Road Championships next week.
They will lead a field that includes the formidable Team Sky trio of reigning champion Ian Stannard, the Olympic team pursuit gold medallist Peter Kennaugh and the Tour of Britain winner Jonathan Tiernan-Locke.
Aiming to end the stranglehold Sky have established in recent years will be Kennaugh's Olympic team-mate Ed Clancy (Rapha Condor JLT) alongside Adam Blythe and Steve Cummings (BMC). Movistar's Alex Dowsett, a Giro d'Italia stage winner and defending time trial champion, is favourite to take that title again.
The women's roster features the London 2012 silver medallist Lizzie Armitstead (Dolmans Boels) and Olympic team pursuit champions Laura Trott, Dani King and Joanna Rowsell (Wiggle Honda).
Sharon Laws (Lotto-Belisol), who only recently returned to racing after the crash in South Africa that almost ended her career earlier this year, has confirmed that she will be in Glasgow to defend her British title.
The 8.8-mile (14.2km) road race on Sunday, June 23, comprises 13 laps for the men and eight laps for the women, starting and finishing at Glasgow Green. It is the first time the championships have taken place entirely in an urban setting with the race weaving its way through the heart of the city.
The course, believed to be similar to that proposed for the Commonwealth Games next summer, takes in Saltmarket, Argyle Street, Buchanan Street, Bath Street, Kelvingrove Park, University Avenue, Byres Road, Gibson Street, Woodlands Road, Park Circus, Sauchiehall Street and George Square.
The time trial through East Ayrshire next Thursday (June 20), starts and finishes in Stewarton and will feature two 15-mile (24.6km) loops for the men. The women and under-23s will contest two laps of an 11-mile (17.6km) route.
Among the Scottish riders to compete will be Cavendish's team-mate Andy Fenn (Omega Pharma-QuickStep), James McCallum (Rapha Condor JLT), Evan Oliphant (Team Raleigh), Robbie Hassan (Ibaigane Opel) and 2013 Scottish road race champion Gary Hand (Herbalife-Leisure Lakes Bikes).
The women's line-up includes the Scottish quartet of Jane Barr, Anne Ewing, Laura Murray and Eileen Roe (Breast Cancer Care Cycling Team), Charline Joiner (MG-Maxifuel) and Jennifer Taylor (Equipe Velo Ecosse/Montpeliers), who won the Scottish national title in Aberdeenshire last month.
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