Thursday 6 October 2016 16:26, UK
Geraint Thomas and Ian Stannard have been named on Team Sky’s seven-man longlist for the inaugural Revolution Champions League.
The other five riders are Olympic omnium champion Elia Viviani, Ben Swift, Luke Rowe, Peter Kennaugh and Vasil Kiryienka.
Team Sky are one of seven UCI WorldTour teams who will compete against five British teams in the Champions League over three rounds: in Paris on November 18-19, in Manchester on November 25-26 and in London on December 2-3.
The Revolution Series had been held exclusively in the UK for its previous 13 seasons but has expanded on to the international stage in 2016.
Rod Ellingworth, head of performance operations at Team Sky, said: "We're excited to be a part of the new Revolution Champions League format and have a good squad of riders to take part.
"They have all ridden the Revolution events before so know what to expect, but the introduction of the new WorldTour teams adds a different dimension. It will be interesting to see what happens and I'm sure it will be exciting for the fans."
The other WorldTour teams involved are Orica-GreenEdge, Cannondale-Drapac, Lampre-Merida, Trek-Segafredo, Giant-Alpecin and LottoNL-Jumbo.
The UK Championship of the Revolution Series is already underway, with the second of three rounds taking place at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome in Glasgow on Saturday, October 8.
Rio 2016 Olympic champions Ed Clancy, Philip Hindes, Callum Skinner and Katie Archibald will be among the star names in action, while Hoy himself will be on hand to provide commentary and sign autographs.
Revolution tickets are available from Sky Tickets, with full ticket information on www.cyclingrevolution.com
