GB’s Trott know she has to lift herself with Horne in hot pursuit

Laura Trott believes it is only a matter of time before Kenilworths Ciara Horne announces herself on the world stage.

Trott memorably combined with Joanna Rowsell and Dani King at London 2012 to claim team pursuit gold in a world record time, while GB have also won six of the eight World Championship titles in the discipline since 2008.

Breaking into such a successful set-up may seem like a gargantuan task but Horne appears to be on the verge of doing just that.

And Trott believes that competition from talented cyclists such as the 25-year-old is exactly what keeps GB in such a healthy position.

“I think the reason that our team is so good is that we have so many people fighting for the spots,” explained Trott.

“We’ve got a girl called Ciara Horne coming into the team who didn’t get the chance to ride at the recent World Championships but I think she will win the national TT this year.

“I’ve been racing with her recently and she is so strong - she just needs that opportunity to step into the team and prove how good she is.

“We’ve got six of us fighting for four spots, so you’re always battling against someone else just to get in the team, let alone go to the Olympics.

“It’s quite fresh to have that when you go on to the track because it means you’re always striving and you don’t get stale.”

Despite their seemingly invincible nature, GB actually suffered a surprise team pursuit defeat at February’s World Championships in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France.

The Brits were pushed into second place by the Australian quartet and while Trott admits the loss was devastating, she believes it has acted as a wake-up call for the entire squad.

“When we lost at the World Championships it was really disappointing - it was the first time I’d ever lost a team pursuit and you almost don’t know how to react,” she added.

“It was really upsetting but now it has shaken us up and has made us realise we can’t get complacent.

“I wouldn’t say we were complacent but our training was getting repeated and you almost don’t get that thrill going into the sessions. But our training has completely changed now.

“We’ve got a lot more girls coming in now, Dani [King] is coming back, Ciara is going to be there as well, so there will be six of us at all times.

“You’ve got more people fighting for spots which I think is really important for us.”

Laura Trott was speaking ahead of this year’s Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 on August 2. For more information visit: http://www.prudentialridelondon.co.uk/