British Cycling Olympic Podium Programme rider Emma Pooley has joined Swiss women’s team Bigla Cycling for the 2013 season.

A silver medallist at the Beijing Olympics and 2010 time-trial world champion, the 30-year-old is an ideal role model for the team’s under 23 riders according to team manager Emil Zimmermann.

At the London Olympic, Pooley played an integral part in helping Great Britain team mate Lizzie Armitstead to silver medal in the road race but narrowly missed out on a medal in the time-trial event.

“I’m looking forward to this new challenge and I’ll do my best to help the young riders on the Bigla team to make the step up,” Pooley said.

“I’ve raced against a lot of them in local races in Switzerland and I can see how talented they are. We will be a force to be reckoned with in 2013! I’m very grateful to Herrn Bösch and Zimmermann for giving me this opportunity to join the Bigla team in Switzerland.

“Next year will be different for me than the last few years, because I’ll be spending the winter studying to finish my PhD... that will mean a slower start to the season. But Bigla will give me plenty of racing opportunities, some fun new challenges, and also the freedom to focus a bit on my own goals in the time trial.”