Alex Dowsett and Steve Cummings are raring to go ahead of the British National Time Trial Championships on Sunday.

The duo will hope to stave off competition from some of the biggest names on the domestic scene as the cream of British time trialling descend on Cambridgeshire.

With Team Sky’s Geriant Thomas no longer competing in the event Dowsett will set off as penultimate rider on the 47.3-kilometre course, little over a week since his first pro victory at the Tour Du Poitou-Charentes.

The event also marks the latest step in a successful return to action for Cummings who, in his last two races, has finished an impressive ninth overall at the Tour de Pologne in addition to being part of the successful squad that helped Edvald Boasson Hagen to victory at Vattenfall Cyclassics.

With the men who occupied the first two steps on the podium last season (Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome) currently doing the same at the Vuelta a Espana, the scene is set for a new rider to make a bid for the national skinsuit.

Three-time Michael Hutchinson will be last man off on Sunday afternoon and could pose the biggest threat to Team Sky who, through Wiggins, have held the prestigious jersey since it began competing in 2010.

Tough test

Dowsett is motivated to make sure the national title remains within the Team Sky ranks and fresh from reecing the course the in-form Brit is hopeful a good result could be on the cards.

He said: “The beauty of the time trial is that I’ll go out and do what I can on the day – give absolutely everything regardless of the opposition – and whatever result happens happens. If someone has gone quicker than me then they are a better bike rider than me. But if they don’t then great!

“I had a look at the course. We drove around it then I had a gentle ride around it before a full tilt in race kit. It’s fairly flat but some of the road surfaces are pretty grippy at times. It’s going to be a tough little circuit I think and there are a few bits which could hit people in terms of concentration.”

The 22-year-old also admitted that the possibility of wearing the national colours at his very next race, the Tour of Britain, is a big motivating factor, adding: “It would be pretty amazing to be riding up and down Embankment in London with the national champ’s jersey on my back and all the blingy white bikes and everything that goes with it. It’s definitely a really big motivation for me.”