British Cycling technical director Shane Sutton admits thoughts of Rio are firmly in his mind after the team was named for this month’s UCI World Track Cycling World Championships in Paris.
Olympic gold medallist Steven Burke, who broke his collarbone last month, is fit to take his place in the men’s endurance squad to contest the team pursuit on the opening day of the Championships.
Reigning double world champion Joanna Rowsell leads the women’s endurance group where she is joined by fellow London 2012 gold medallist Laura Trott, 2014 world champions Elinor Barker, Katie Archibald and Ciara Horne.
Three-time Olympic champion Jason Kenny leads the men's sprint squad, while the women's sprint squad is led by Jess Varnish and features former heptathlete Katy Marchant.
The Championships take place in the French capital from February 18-22 and with valuable Olympic qualification points up for grabs, Sutton wants his team to maintain their momentum from the recent World Cup season.
“We’ve placed a big focus on this event as our aim is to qualify Olympic points as quickly as possible and I’m keen to see some strong results across the board," Sutton told British Cycling.
“I’m pleased Steve Burke has made the team which is a credit to him and the hard work of the support staff plus it’s good to see Academy rider Matt Gibson step up and make selection.
“We saw some promising performance during the world cup season and I’m looking for the team to drive this momentum into the world championships.”
© Sportsbeat 2015