Former heptathlete Katy Marchant included as GB Cycling squad finalised

Katy Marchant: Made switch from athletics to cycling

Former heptathlete Katy Marchant has been included in GB Cycling's Olympic Podium Programme for the next funding year.

Marchant, who previously trained under Jessica Ennis' coach Toni Minichello, is one of four women in the elite sprint programme along with world champion Becky James.

The list of squad members includes the bulk of Britain's 2012 Olympic medallists, and performance director Sir David Brailsford is confident preparations are on track for the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro.

He said: "In line with the UK Sport funding structure, we have reviewed the British Cycling's Olympic Programmes, and I believe we have a strong squad to take us into the second year of this Olympic cycle.

"The track programme is primarily made up from young riders which is a change to what we've had in previous years, but there's certainly a lot of experience in the Podium group which I think the Academy and ODP level riders can benefit from.

"On the sprint side we welcome Katy Marchant to the Podium programme from UK Athletics where she used to compete in the heptahlon event.

"On the endurance side, we have world champion women's team pursuit squads at both elite and junior level and it's great to have that pool of talent to develop which will hopefully help us to continue our dominance in that event through to Rio, especially now it has become a four-woman event."

In the men's list London track medalist Ross Edgar has switched to endurance racing, and Brailsford said: "It will be interesting to see how he develops."

The new squad also includes a Paralympic Development Programme, and Brailsford said: "This is a great step forward for para-cycling in Britain as we now have a process in place to identify and progress disabled athletes with a talent for cycling."