Recent under-23 Giro d'Italia winners Tom Pidcock, James Knox, and Hugh Carthy are expected to lead the British men's team in the world championship road race in Imola, Italy.

Pidcock, 21, is allowed to step up to elite racing as there is no U23 competition. He is the current U23 cyclocross world champion and was dominant in the U23 Giro d'Italia, winning three stages and dominating the overall class.

Pidcock was aggressive in the recent elite men's European championships and does not seem anxious to take on the likes of Wout Van Aert, Julian Alaphilippe, Alejandro Valverde, and Vincenzo Nibali.

Knox recently finished seventh overall in Tirreno-Adriatico, and Kersey is riding well in the Tour de France, supporting EF Pro Cycling team leader Rigoberto Uran.

Also in the six-rider field are Tour Down Under stage winner Matt Holmes (Trek-Segafredo), road captain Luke Rowe (Ineos Grenadiers), and James Shaw (Rewal Securitas).

Thomas finished second overall in Tirreno-Adriatico, but chose to compete only in the time trial in order to lead Ineos Grenadiers in the Giro d'Italia, which starts in Palermo just six days after the world championship road race.

Adam Yates is currently in contention for a top-10 finish in the Tour de France, and his twin brother Simon is also targeting the Giro d'Italia after winning Tirreno-Adriatico.

"This year's race calendar means that Grand Tour specialists will be absent from the road races, with the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España on the horizon.

"Gelant has been in good form as he finished second overall at Tirreno-Adriatico and has worked closely with Alex and his coach over the last few months to support his time trial ambitions.

"As always, Luke has played a solid role as team captain at this year's Tour de France. I am also pleased that Tom Pidcock, this year's Giro d'Italia under-23 winner, has been selected for the elite men's team. He is a great talent and the highlight of his year was his second place finish at the Elite Cyclocross World Championships.

Great Britain has already announced that Lizzie Deignan, Lizzie Banks, Alice Burns, and Hannah Burns will compete in the elite women's road race and Anna Henderson and Anna Shackley in the time trial.

The elite men's world championship road race will take place on Sunday, September 27, with the elite women's race the day before. Both will start and finish at the Enzo e Dino Ferrari Circuit in Imola, with multiple laps of the 28.8 km circuit using the climbs of Mazzolano (2.8 km, average gradient 5.9%) and Cima Galisterna (2.7 km, 6.4%, with sections that reach 14%) The race will be held on the same day as the first race. The men's race is contested over 9 laps and the women's race over 5 laps.

The 2020 World Championships were originally scheduled to be held in Aigle and Martigny, but due to a coronavirus pandemic that restricted rallies in Switzerland, the venue was changed.

Earlier this month, it was confirmed that Imola, Italy had won the rights to host a reduced version of the World Championships in late September over La Planche des Belle Filles, France. The race program will be limited to four days of elite men's and women's individual time trials and four road races; there will be no Junior or U23 World Championships in 2020.

Cycling News will provide full coverage of the UCI Road Race World Championships.