Dumples wrote:
It is a tough choice for the US selectors because with the need to earn qualifying points they don’t want to experiment too much, but there are some untested athletes out there that for all anyone knows might be perfect for the relay. I think maybe these Conti level relays might need to be used to race some people like Pearson, Knibb, Hemming, etc to see if any are somehow particularly suited to the 20 min race.
Although after the first couple of races, if they are ranked high enough, they could possibly experiment a bit. Remember the top 7 countries are auto qualifiers, if comfortably sitting there I imagine the risk could be worth it.
Not every country will have their A Team every race, injuries and illness are more likely with 4 ppl in a team. Some countries are lucky their b choice athletes are also very strong.
This first race GB don't have Learmonth or Ali, due to injuries. One of the Aussie Team guys is out from a bike crash. No Routier for Spain(not starting their top guys either).