Joanna Rowsell insists Britain’s extended women’s team pursuit outfit won’t settle for anything less than gold at the European Track Championships in Apeldoorn.
Rowsell joined forces with Laura Trott and Dani King to impressively claim the women’s team pursuit title at the London 2012 Olympics last summer with a world record in each of their three rides.
She has had a break from the boards since, both deliberately and inflicted through injury, in which time the women’s team pursuit has grown from three riders and 3000m to four and 4000m.
However Rowsell is back with Trott and King for the European Championships and joined in the endurance squad by Elinor Barker, her replacement at this year’s worlds which also resulted in gold.
So too is Katie Archibald who formed part of the quartet – Rowsell, Trott and Barker the others – that qualified Britain in first place in Apeldoorn with Poland their opponents in the final.
And Rowsell, who joined forces with King, Trott and Barker to win the British team pursuit title last month, admits the event changes haven’t altered their will to win.
“We want to win, we don’t want to be stood in second or third on the podium,” Rowsell told British Cycling. “We want to be on that top step all of the time, every time. We just want to win.
“I really like it; I don’t know how I would have felt had it stayed at three kilometres. Personally I really like the new challenge.
“I had been doing three kilometres for five years since it first came into the worlds in 2008 so for me, it’s really nice to have a change and something else to work towards.
“We knew the three-kilometre event inside out and we knew exactly how to ride it perfectly by the Olympics so it’s nice to start that process again with something slightly different.
“It sounds very similar but when you really into it there are so many subtle differences, I’m finding it quite interesting exploring the new event and figuring out how to go faster using different methods and turn lengths. I’m enjoying it.”
© Sportsbeat 2013