Wales given Games cycling boost

Geraint Thomas won Olympic gold on the track in Beijing

Wales are likely to have Olympic gold medal-winning cyclists Geraint Thomas and Nicole Cooke available to compete at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

Next year's Games take place at the same time as the Road Cycling World Championships in Melbourne, Australia.

British Cycling coach Shane Sutton says Thomas should compete in Delhi, while hopes are also high over Cooke.

"I've no doubt Geraint will be on the start line either in the track and the road or just the road," Sutton said.

"Whether he comes back in for the road, I presume so.

"But if Geraint doesn't make the GB team for the World Road Championships, he'll beef up your [Wales] track squad as well as the road race.

"I couldn't say for sure, I'll sit down with the new coaching team we have at British Cycling and we'll make those decisions alongside the athlete.

"Once we get buy-in from Geraint we'll be able to let everybody know what his plan is.

"He's Welsh through and through. He wants to be there.

"The World Road Championships clashes with the [Commonwealth Games] track, which is difficult.

"But I'm very optimistic that Wales will be very strong on the track, they've got a good pool of riders and they'll be strong on the road as well."

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Thomas, 22, is working his may back to full fitness after suffering a broken nose and a fracture of the ischiopubic bone in the groin.

The Beijing Olympics track gold medallist currently rides for Team Barloworld, but is tipped to join the new British-based Team Sky next year.

Cooke, the Olympic road race champion, competes for her own Vision 1 Racing team.

Both Welsh riders will be on home soil this weekend in the GB National Road Race Championships, which take place in Abergavenny in south Wales, where Cooke will be defending her title.

The competition will have a top-class field, with the likes of Mark Cavendish, Bradley Wiggins, David Millar, Emma Pooley and Lizzie Armitstead all expected to compete.