If Joanna Rowsell Shand wants to add to her Olympic team pursuit title in Rio next year, she will have to do so with a world-record breaking performance according to London 2012 team-mate Dani King.

Three years ago Rowsell Shand, King and Laura Trott came together to win team pursuit gold in front of their home fans at London 2012.

It promises to be all change next year in Rio however, with the event having not only expanded to four riders instead of three, but King will also not be in the running for selection, having switched her attention solely to the road.

That opens the door to a number of other riders with Elinor Barker and Katie Archibald coming on board as Great Britain surrendered their title to Australia at the World Championships in February.

To compound their misery, the Aussies also took the world record off of them in the process and just last week Rowsell Shand admitted Great Britain will have to be on record-breaking form to get gold in Rio next year.

It is a viewpoint King agrees with completely, although she also believes Britain have the firepower to deliver.

“I believe that who wins gold next year in Rio will have had to break the world record to do it,” she said.

“Australia stepped it up at the worlds this year and they will be up there again along with the likes of Canada. It’s going to be a fierce battle.

“There are five girls in the picture for the team pursuit for Great Britain, but at the moment there is no one that really stands out, they are all good riders.

“It’s quite a young team but that’s good. The younger girls like Elinor and Katie have proved that they can step up and move into the line up. It’s going to be exciting to see who gets the nod.”

While Rowsell Shand and King will not team up on the track at next year’s Olympics, they still however remain close friends on and off the bike.

King attended her wedding earlier this year and the chances are Rowsell Shand will return the favour after King got engaged to fellow cyclist Matt Rowe this week.

Although King admits she will still miss the banter on the track.

“I will miss parts of the track, there are positive and negatives from both sides really,” she added.

“I’ll miss the guys from the track but we all stay in contact with each other.

“Laura will be getting married next year and I was at Joanna’s wedding earlier this summer. It’s going to be hard to pick my bridesmaids although the wedding won’t be until after Rio.

“To be honest I’ve not yet put in a full season on the road so for next year I will be 100 per cent focused on that and knowing exactly what my goal is.”

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