Laura Kenny among Olympic medallists in England squad for Commonwealth Games

Olympic medallists Dame Laura Kenny, Josie Knight, Matt Walls and Ryan Owens have been named in a 35-strong Team England cycling squad for this summer’s Commonwealth Games.

Fellow Olympians Charlie Tanfield, Ethan Hayter, Ethan Vernon, Ollie Wood and Evie Richards are also included, while there is an eye on the future with young quartet Lauren Bate, Milly Tanner, Sophie Capewell and Blaine Ridge-Davis, so impressive in recent women’s team sprinting, on the list.

Steve Bate, who took Paralympic silver in the individual pursuit, and Paralympic bronze medallist Sophie Unwin will also compete at the Games, where the track events will take place in London with the mountain biking and road events around Birmingham.

The competition will pit riders against their regular team-mates – Kenny won Olympic Madison gold alongside Katie Archibald in Tokyo but will be competing against the Scot this summer, the same for Owens who will be up against Jack Carlin after winning Olympic team sprint silver with him last year.

The Games can also allow riders to focus on different events. Knight has made the individual pursuit, a non-Olympic event rarely targeted by riders on the Great Britain programme, a major focus going into the summer.

“I think it’s just a very honest event,” said Knight, who came back from an elbow injury to surprise herself with bronze in the individual pursuit at the Nations Cup in Glasgow in April.

“You’re by yourself, you’ve got to 12 laps as fast as you can. No external factors can impact you. It’s just you and your bike, as fast as you can for three kilometres.”

Knight raced alongside Kenny, Archibald, Neah Evans and Elinor Barker to take team pursuit silver last summer after being called into the Tokyo squad.

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