Rafa Maciel

The first selection meeting for GB Triathlon is scheduled for 24th October when I expect Yee and Potter to be formally confirmed. GTB may also be confirmed under Criteria 2 but given she is recovering from injury, the selectors may decide to hold off naming her to the squad. Before yesterday, I would have assumed that Coldwell would get the nod given her stronger performance over the Olympic distance but it looks like it will come down to a 1-race shoot out in2024 to decide the third spot. On the men's side, I'm not unduly concerned about Yee's performance yesterday. He is never going to be leading them out of the water and is happy to sit in the pack 20-25 seconds down. Where he came unstuck yesterday I think, was down to poor positioning during the swim - it looked pretty brutal going round some of the markers during the swim and it wouldn't surprise me if he took a knock on the second lap. One of Yee's strengths has been to bounce back after disappointing results and I think that yesterday was the 1st Olympic distance event that he has lost this year after victories in Cagliari and Paris. I really don't know what to make of Brownlee. He was injured over the summer so perhaps he wasn't fully fit, but he put in a truly dismal performance in Paris yet 10 days later he came second in the London leg of the Triathlon Super League. Yesterday he put in a great swim and cycle only to have a complete collapse in the run. The fact that Brownlee is still able to pull out decent performances over shorter distances within smaller fields should likely still make him favourite for the relay selection. Izzard's recent form has been fairly decent recently so yesterday was really disappointing. I'd like to say that he was hanging back to try to help Yee close the gap, but it was actually Max Stapely that was willing to act as the domestique. Both Stapely and Izzard are scheduled to take part in the Rome world cup event in a couple of weeks - all has a feeling of deja vu from 2021 with Tom Bishop trying to secure that 3rd GBR quota

Looks like there has been a couple of changes made to the entry lists for next week's competition: Men's Vault Specialist: Juancho Miguel Besana has been replaced by Fabian de Luna. Men's Horizontal Bar Specialist: Juancho Miguel Besana has withdrawn and no replacement announced as yet. Women's All-Around Individual: Anya Pilgrim has been replace by Stella Diaz Munez; Caterina Cereghetti has been replaced by Anny Wu; and Christina Zwicker has withdrawn and been replaced by Anastasija Ananjeva. Women's Balance Beam: Chan Cheuk Lam replaced by Hilary Heron.

Most of the focus this week has been on the European Championships, but there have been a few other events taking place on the roads across the globe. Men's Events Tour of Luxembourg 1.) Marc Hirschi 2.) Brandon McNulty 3.) Ben Healy Tour of Binzhou 1.) Lucas Carstensen 2.) Luis Carlos Chia Bermudez 3.) Blake Agnoletto Paris-Chauny 1.) Jasper Philipsen 2.) Jason Tesson 3.) Paul Penhoet Omloop van het Houtland 1.) Gerben Thijssen 2.) Dyland Groenewegen 3.) Cedric Beullens

And Olympic selection for Team GB

Williams bows out in the semifinals with a defeat to top seed Nika Klepac.

Worst possible results for hopes of top 5 finish with Christophe Laporte taking the win in the men's road race - pick up additional 250 ranking points. The only upside is that Valentin Madouas has had a poor Tour of Luxembourg so will drop around 175 points to give France a net gain of around 75 points.

She may well end up competing in both - but she can't get the quota for GB in both. So, because the C1 came before the K1, she becomes the "qualified" athlete in C1 and Spicer would be the "qualified" athlete in K1. At this point, it is only really important in determining which athletes will be able to compete for the Kayak-Cross quotas in Prague next year.

So from quota perspective, I think the "qualified" athletes are C1 - Mallory Franklin K1 - Phoebe Spicer That leaves Kimberley Woods free to take part in the Kayak-Cross qualifier in Prague next year. On the men's side, C1 - Adam Burgess K1 - Joe Clarke Not sure our C1 men do a lot of Kayak-Cross so team for Prague qualifier will probably be led by Jonny Dickson and Chris Bowers

Lauren Williams makes it through to the semi-finals after defeating 4th seed Nikolina Mesic. Mesic was leading in the second round but I think she racked up her 10th gam-jeon so the decision was given to Williams.

With taking the men's quota, I think that means the host quota for trap is reallocated through the Olympic ranking - that could just be lifeline for 's Matthew Coward-Holley.

Lauren Williams comes through her first bout in Belgrade 2-0 against Anastasija Ljubinkovic (8-1 / 9-0) She goes through to Quarterfinal where she is likely to take on Nikolina Mesic who is the 4th seed.

Not used it before but this site seems to be offering results: TPSS 2014 - TaekoPlan Tournament Subscription Site - Now supporting 14 languages and 2 more coming up soon! Also worth pointing out the matches are being streamed on YouTube

Anyone know if there was an issue in Sarrians today? It was due to host the 5th round of the BMX Racing World Cup but I can't see any information or updates on the UCI website.

4th with Pfieffer Georgi and 8th for Anna Henderson will add a further 195 points to the GB total so they will finish the week +330 points. That should be enough to extend their lead over Australia to just shy of 500 points. It's difficult to see Australia being able to close that gap in the remaining 3 weeks of racing.

Women's Elite Road Race Gold: Mischa Bredewold Silver: Lorena Wiebes Bronze: Lotte Kopecky

Looks like Mark Cavendish will be returning to racing next month after crashing out of the Tour de France - he is provisionally listed for the Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey which runs from 8-Oct to 15-Oct and will be one of the last events to take place before the qualification window closes. Josh Tarling also filling out his schedule for the next couple of weeks - he is provisionally due to take part in CRO race next week and the Chrono des Nations on 15th Oct. I have a feeling that Geraint Thomas's season is done. Likewise, I can't see Geoghan-Hart riding again this year especially as he is switching to Lidl-Trek next season. Not sure what the plan is for Tom Pidcock - he could take part in a couple of the Italian 1-day races or compete in the North American swing of the MTB World Cup. We know that the Yates brothers are due to take part in a couple of the Italian 1-day races but having the lower order ranking riders competing over the next couple of weeks could be the difference between having 3 or 4 riders in Paris next year.

Pontevedra is obviously going to be important to determine the World Champion, but there's not that many athletes who are realistically in contention - for many the main focus is going to be on securing Olympic selection. - Australia Criteria 1: Top-8 finish at Paris Olympic Test Event. (Not Achieved) Criteria 2: One athlete will secure selection if they finish in the top-8 at Pontevedra. Criteria 3: Any athlete who achieves a top 5 finish at designated WTCS sprint event or top-8 finish at Olympic distance designated WTCS event. Designated events will take place between March and May next year. Likely Selection - Matthew Hauser best placed to secure nomination at Pontevedra but unlikely that anyone on the women's side will make the necessary grade. - New Zealand Criteria 1: Top-3 finish at Paris Olympic Test Event. (Not Achieved) Criteria 2: Two or more top-8 placings at either Paris Test Event or WTCS event during qualification. Criteria 3: Selectors discretion. Likely Selection - Hayden Wilde has already met criteria 2 so he will be going all out for World title. - Canada Criteria 1: Top 5 finish at Paris Olympic Test Event or at WTCS Final at Pontevedra. Criteria 2: Two top-12 finishes at WTCS event or Paris Olympic Test Event. Criteria 3: Requires a top-12 finish at WTCS event and top-8 finish within mixed relay event. Criteria 4: Discretionary nomination based on Individual Olympic Ranking. Likely Selection - Tyler Mislawchuk has already met criteria 2 but a top-5 finish in Pontevedra would seal his place. - USA Criteria 1: If 2 athletes secure podium finish at Paris Olympic Test Event, both will be nominated. Taylor Knibb selected. Criteria 2: If an athlete secures podium finish at Paris Olympic Test Event and another athlete secures top-8 finish, both athletes will be nominated. Criteria 3: A single athlete finishing within the top-8 at Paris Olympic Test Event will be nominated. Morgan Pearson selected. Criteria 4: An athlete who secures podium finish at Pontevedra will secure nomination. Criteria 5: An athlete who secures podium finish at designated WTCS event in 2024 will secure nomination. Criteria 6: Discretionary selection Likely Selection - Unlikely that any additional athletes will secure nomination for USA at Pontevedra but Taylor Spivey could just sneak on to the podium. - Great Britain Criteria 1a: Athletes securing podium finishes at both Olympic Test Event and Pontevedra will be nominated Criteria 1b: If Alex Yee or Georgia Taylor-Brown secure podium place at Olympic Test Event and have achieved a podium at WTCS event, they will be selected. Alex Yee duly selected. Criteria 2: Discretionary selection - athletes who have achieved at least 1 WTCS podium and are considered medal contenders. Likely Selection - Beth Potter can secure nomination with a podium finish at Pontevedra. GTB and Sophie Coldwell both meet criteria 2 - Germany Criteria 1: Up to 2 athletes finishing in the top-8 at Olympic Test Event. Laura Lindemann selected. Criteria 2: Up to 2 athletes finishing in the top-8 at Pontevedra. Criteria 3: Finish in top-12 of WTCS standings. Criteria 4: Discretionary selection. Likely Selection - Lisa Tertsch on the women's side and both Jonas Schomburg and Lasse Luhrs would have potential to secure their nomination at Pontevedra. - France Criteria 1: Podium at Olympic Test Event - Dorian Coninx and Cassandre Beaugrand selected. Criteria 2: Athletes finishing in the top 8 at Olympic Test Event and securing podium finish at Pontevedra will be nominated. Criteria 3: Discretionary selection Likely Selection - Emma Lonbardi has a top-8 finish at the Test Event as does Pierre Le Corre and Leo Bergere. If any of them finish on the podium this weekend, then they will be on the team. - Norway Criteria 1: Athletes with top-3 finish in at least 1 WTCS Olympic distance event between May-23 and May-24 will be selected. Criteria 2: Based on Individual Olympic Ranking list. - Spain Criteria 1: Any athlete with a top-8 finish at Olympic Test event will be selected. Criteria 2: Any athlete within the top 12 of the Individual Olympic Ranking at 31-Dec-23 will be selected. Criteria 3: Discretionary selection. Likely Selection - Antonio Serrat Seoane would currently be selected under criteria 2. - Japan Criteria 1: Highest ranked athlete in the Individual Olympic Ranking will be selected provided they are within the top-20 of the ranking. Criteria 2: Athletes finishing within the top-8 at the Olympic Test Event, Pontevedra WTCS final or WTCS race in Yokohama in 2024 will be selected. Likely Selection - Kenji Nener is currently ranked 18th in Olympic ranking list and would be eligible for selection.

Women's U23 Road Race Gold: Ilse Pluimers Silver: Anna Shackley Bronze: Linda Zanetti Very good result for GBR and their hopes of securing a top 5 spot in the world rankings as she'll pick up additional 85 points. So far this week, are net +140 points and we still have the road race to go.

And both races should be available on BBC

Baku Grand Slam Results - Day 1 Men's 60Kg 1.) "Neutral" Ramazan Abdulaev 2.) "Neutral" Gamzat Zairbekov 3.) Kim Won Jin & Romain Valadier Picard Men's 66Kg 1.) Yashar Najafov 2.) Takeshi Takeoka 3.) David Garcia Torne & Denis Vieru Women's 48Kg 1.) Assunta Scutto 2.) Leyla Aliyeva 3.) Shirine Boukli & "Neutral" Sabina Giliazova Women's 52Kg 1.) Kisumi Omori 2.) Distria Krasniqi 3.) Reka Pupp & Odette Giuffrida Women's 57Kg 1.) Nora Gjakova 2.) Eteri Liparteliani 3.) Timna Nelson Levy & Priscilla Gneto

Yeah - could well be the case. Can't see a start list for Il Lorbardia yet, but at the moment PCS are showing both Yates brothers on the start list for Giro dell'Emilia on 30-Sep so they could end up doing both.

Unfortunately not. He's currently the 10th ranked GBR rider and whilst he will pick up 70 points for the win, this will take his total to 616, but that would only be enough to move him up to 9th, around 40 points behind Max Poole. If he could get a top 10 finish in the road race then it would probably be enough to get him into the top 8 and become a ranking rider, but the overall impact on GBR score likely to be minimal - maybe something in the region of +10 or +20. Realistically in order for the Europeans to have any impact on GBR's ranking points, it would require Ethan Vernon to secure a top 5 finish. At the same time, there is a chance that GBR could still move into a top 5 position, but it is dependent on performance of France. France are not defending any points from the Europeans but their only ranking rider listed on the entry list is Christophe Laporte. If he can get top 10 finish, then he will bank decent points total. The real movement in the French score likely to come from Valentin Madouas who is taking part in the Tour of Luxembourg. He is defending 180 points having won 2 stages of the tour last year and ultimately finishing in 3rd overall. If he doesn't match that, then there is a chance that France will drop below GB in the next rankings. Personally I think that whether GB get into top 5 and secure full team of 4 is likely to come down to the Yates brothers and which races they take part in over the next couple of weeks.

Starting order for men's world championships: Floor Pommel Rings Vault P-Bars Horizontal Bar Subdivision 1 Subdivision 2 Subdivision 3 Subdivision 4 Subdivision 5 Subdivision 6 Asa above, = Apparatus Specialists = Individual All-Around Athletes

Starting order for women's world championships: Vault Uneven Bars Balance Beam Floor Subdivision 1 Subdivision 2 Subdivision 3 Subdivision 4 Subdivision 5 Subdivision 6 Subdivision 7 Subdivision 8 Subdivision 9 Subdivision 10 = Apparatus Specialists = Individual All-Around Athletes

I've developed a bit of an unhealthy obsession with these rankings so can give my opinion for what it is worth. The truth is that whilst it is possible, it is unlikely that Ukraine will be able to close the gap. The Ukrainian team do not have any points from 2022 European Championship so anything they win this week will help increase their total. Valeriya Kononenko played her part today after she finished the time trial in 10th place and picks up 3 points. In addition, assuming that they finish, they will also pick up points from the mixed team time trial. Worst case scenario, as there are only 8 teams competing, they will pick up 10 more points Later in the week, 4 of your ranking riders will take part in the road race - Maryna Altukhova, Yuliia Biriukova, Valeriya Kononenko and Olha Kulynych. The ideal scenario would be for one of those riders to secure a top 10 finish and bank at least 50 points but realistically that isn't going to happen. I think they'll be pleased if one or more of them can finish in the points with a top 30 finish. So, at the moment it looks like Ukraine will come away from the Europeans around +15 points which would mean that they would need to compete in some of the remaining UCI Tour events to make up the deficit if they were to hoping to move up the rankings.