Several local riders have been longlisted for the Great Britain team for this year’s UCI Road World Championships.

The 2018 event takes place in Innsbruck, Austria between September 23-30 and no fewer than six Manx or Isle of Man-based riders have been longlisted by British Cycling.

Professional stars Peter Kennaugh, Mark Christian and Onchan resident Ben Swift have all been included in the list for the elite men’s road race alongside the likes of newly-crowned Tour de France winner Geraint Thomas and Chris Froome. Trek Drops ace Anna Christian is the sole Manx representative in the longlist for the elite women’s road race, while Matt Bostock and Amelia Sharpe are included in the lists for the under-23 men’s and junior women’s road races respectively.

Mark Cavendish has not been included following his announcement earlier this week that he is to take an indefinite break from cycling as he attempts to recover from Epstein-Barr Virus (full story in this week’s Manx Independent, on sale now).

As well as being longlisted for the world championships, Bostock and Swift have been included in the startlist for this year’s Tour of Britain which begin this Sunday.

Team UAE Emirates star Swift and British Cycling senior academy’s Bostock have been selected as part of Great Britain’s team for the eight-stage race.