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CYCLING at the Commonwealth Games will be as notable for the big names missing as much as the riders gunning for glory.
A string of top stars have pulled out diminishing the quality of competition but also giving the event a fresh look.

Hosts India are competing for the first time in 32 years but are not seen as serious contenders with Australia and England expected to dominate.


England go into the road events with a team including young world class stars Lizzie Armitstead and Alex Dowsett.

They line up with experienced riders such as Jeremy Hunt, Russell Downing and Emma Pooley, who arrives fresh from winning the world time trial title in Australia.

But the International Cycling Union's decision to use November's European Championships as a qualifier for the 2012 Olympics has meant some top names, including Olympic champions Victoria Pendleton and Chris Hoy, will be absent.


Olympic team pursuit gold medallist Geraint Thomas pulled out, saying he was not prepared to risk his health in New Delhi, with reports of an outbreak of mosquito-borne dengue, as well as issues of sanitation in the village.

Sarah Storey, meanwhile, will be the first Paralympian to compete for England in able-bodied sport at the Commonwealth Games, as part of the track team.

"We have selected a young track team for the Commonwealth Games to give England's rising stars an opportunity to experience a large scale multi-event competition as they're preparing for their first Olympics," head coach Shane Sutton said.


Cycling, first included in the 1934 London Games, will feature 14 track events and two road events, with 30 medals up for grabs for the men and 24 for the women.

Mark Cavendish, of the Isle of Man, who brings the curtain down on his season in Delhi, took a gold in the men's track cycling scratch event in the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne 2006.

Seven world champions, led by 2004 Olympic and reigning Commonwealth Games champion Anna Meares, have been named in the Australian team.

They will look to replicate their dominant performance on both road and track at the Melbourne 2006 Games and the recent World Track Championships where they finished as the number one ranked country.

However Mark Renshaw, who was famously thrown off the Tour de France for head-butting a rival, withdrew because of health reasons.

Renshaw has been replaced by Michael Matthews who won the world under-23 road race title in Geelong last week.

New Zealand road cyclist Greg Henderson pulled out over concerns about health and security.

Cyclists were putting their final preparations together at the velodrome yesterday ahead of today's track cycling, when three gold medals will be up for grabs.