Tanfield brothers bound for Gold Coast
THE good news continues to roll in for Charlie Tanfield.
Just five days after he capped his debut at a world championships by winning gold as part of Ed Clancy’s team pursuit squad, the 21-year-old amateur from Great Ayton was named in England’s 27-strong cycling team for next month’s Commonwealth Games in Australia.
His selection reflects a youthful-looking England squad, shorn of many of its former Commonwealth Games medallists and household names.
Otley’s Lizzie Deignan has chosen against defending the title she won in Glasgow four years ago to focus on her road campaign, while Burley-inWharfedale’s Scott Thwaites – a surprise bronze medallist last time – is also concentrating on his professional team.
Clancy, who won a silver four years ago, has opted to stay at home in a decision that matches that made by fellow Olympic champions Jason Kenny and Laura Kenny.
The omission of so many big hitters has opened the door for the likes of Tanfield and his elder brother Harry, who is in the road squad along with Sheffield’s former British champion Adam Blythe.
Tom Stewart, 28, of Doncaster has earned elevation to the road team along with Wakefield’s Ollie Wood, 22, who will look to pair up with the younger Tanfield in the team pursuit on the track.
Leeds’s Katy Marchant, 25, will be a big hope for a medal in the track sprint, following her bronze at the Rio Olympics, an achievement that makes her one of the senior members of the squad. Wakefield’s Melissa Lowther, 21, contests the road race and the time-trial.
Mountain biking may be a discipline to unearth a new Yorkshire champion, with Annie Last, 27, having swapped Bakewell in Derbyshire for Sheffield in recent years, and Middlesbrough’s Frazer Clacherty, 30, two names to look out for.
Team England chef de mission Sarah Winckless said: “This is a really busy time of year for our cycling teams with the spring classics on the road, the world cup season starting for the mountain bikers and the world championships on the track so I’m delighted we are taking such a strong team.”