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Great Britain men's road coach Matt Brammeier believes that Chris Froome is still far from the Olympic Games, of which Froome is aware. The deadline to submit selection for 4 Olympians is May 18, but Brammeir seems to believe that Froome has no chance "I recommend the team, I don’t select it but I can say that I think Chris is a long way off.
He has said himself that he’s not there yet and he needs more time to get up to speed and to get to a level where he’s fighting for that spot," Brammeier told Cyclingnews. "We’ve got four spots and it’s not an easy team to fight your way into.
Unfortunately, it’s not looking great for Chris on my behalf anyway." Froome is still on the list, but on a much longer list, where Froome is probably at the bottom "There's an official long-list that’s quite long but then there’s a narrowed-down group of bike riders who we’ve been in contact with for a long time." "We’ve gone through the process with them in terms of how we want to race and what we want to get out of it as a team.
It’s been a nice experience to get that group of lads together. It will be special come race days," Brammeier added. Froome listed which cyclists he relied on the most "The riders I’m seriously considering are Geraint Thomas, the two Yates brothers, Tao, James Knox, Hugh Carthy, Tom Pidcock, Luke Rowe, and Alex Dowsett." "Chris is still on the long-list and he could be selected but the biggest challenge is the deadline for selection.
I have to give my list of names to a selection panel by May 18, which is two months before the Tour and every nation is in the same boat. "Beyond that date, the only way you can change your team is on medical grounds. We have about 30 riders on the full long-list but those first names are my narrowed down list.
But that’s just my recommendation; it’s not a selected list."
Time trial
The UK will also have to select 2 cyclists to compete in the Time Trial "We’ve got two spots for the TT but they both have to come from the same group of riders.
If I believe a rider can win a medal in the TT then they’ll be put forward for selection. It’s that black and white. That’s first and foremost the most predictable performance," Brammeier said. "With the road race, we’ve potentially got the best team we’ve ever had in an Olympics.
We won’t know about Tom until May 16 and the final mountain bike World Cup." "We have to think about that side because it could affect who is best at what job. It’s a bit of musical chairs." Brammeir seems to have already compiled his list of drivers he expects the most from "I’ve learned a lot from the previous events I’ve been at as a director and the biggest stand-out thing to me is that commitment and drive to be there." "It’s the riders who have been thinking and talking about the event, ringing me up and asking me questions, and it’s really been part of planning throughout the season.
"Some of the lads are just fitting it into what they’re doing but for some, it’s the be all and end all of their years."
