Former track sprinter Kian Emadi has replaced Matt Gibson in Great Britain's endurance line-up for the final round of the 2015/16 UCI Track World Cup in Hong Kong (January 16-17). Gibson has withdrawn due to illness.
Emadi, a former kilometre time trial and team sprint national champion, will join Mark Cavendish, Chris Latham, Ollie Wood and Germain Burton in the men's endurance line-up, and will take part in the team pursuit.
The 23-year-old was in action last weekend with Cavendish, Latham and Wood representing Great Britain in the team pursuit at the Revolution Track Series meeting in Manchester, where they took on the Team Wiggins quartet of Steven Burke, Owain Doull, Jon Dibben and Andy Tennant - the latter have performed more regularly in GB colours.
Wiggins came out on top in that instance, over a half-distance of two kilometres rather than the regular four kilometres.
>>> Mark Cavendish and Laura Trott headline GB track squad for Hong Kong World Cup
It's not the first time that Great Britain has experimented with using former track sprinters in the team pursuit. Back in 2010, Jason Queally trained with the endurance team, but was never utilised in top-level competition.
Great Britain Cycling Team squad for Track World Cup in Hong Kong
Elinor Barker, Germain Burton, Mark Cavendish, Matt Crampton, Kian Emadi, Philip Hindes, Ciara Horne, Becky James, Jason Kenny, Chris Latham, Katy Marchant, Emily Nelson, Joanna Rowsell Shand, Callum Skinner, Laura Trott, Jess Varnish, Ollie Wood
