By Mike Rowbottom

Victoria_Pendleton_smiling_in_raceJanuary 29 - Eight Olympic champions, including Sir Chris Hoy, Victoria Pendleton (pictured), Bradley Wiggins and Jason Queally are among the 27 British riders announced today in the team which will complete in the final round of the UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics at Manchester's National Cycling Centre from February 18-20.


The team also includes double Paralympic gold medallist Sarah Storey and the current World BMX Champion, Shanaze Reade.

British Cycling's Performance Manager Shane Sutton said: "We have selected the strongest squad possible for the final round of the World Cup season and we are looking to score as many qualification points as possible before we go to the World Championships next month.

"The Academy riders did us all proud out in Beijing and we're all happy with how we are performing at this stage in the Olympic cycle.

The Manchester World Cup is an event that the riders really enjoy and the support of a sell-out home crowd is always appreciated."

Some of the World's biggest track cycling stars are also expected to be in Manchester for this event, a three day feast of action that brings the World Cup series to an end, just a month before the World Championships in Apeldoorn, Holland.

Featuring both the Team Sprint and highly anticipated Team Pursuit finals, the action will be live on BBC 2 from 1.30pm on Sunday afternoon and available over the course of the weekend via the red button and the BBC website.

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