British Cycling has today confirmed the appointment of Justin Grace as a national sprint coach for the Great Britain Cycling Team.

Grace will join Iain Dyer and Jan Van Eijden in coaching the Great Britain Cycling Team sprint squad from 1 September. Grace was responsible for developing the New Zealand sprint programme and coached the squad for five years before joining the French Cycling Federation as their national sprint coach.

During that time he oversaw the three world titles won by Francois Pervis at the 2014 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Colombia.

Speaking of the new appointment, technical director Shane Sutton said: “At this stage of the Olympic cycle, we’re looking to bolster the staffing team and I believe that to have someone of Justin’s calibre and expertise will enhance our medal prospects for Rio.

“Justin has been on both sides of track sprint – he’s enjoyed success as an athlete and he’s coached sprinters to Olympic medals and world titles and I think he will be a valuable asset to the Great Britain Cycling Team.”

Born in New Zealand, Grace started his cycling career as an athlete. He won 13 New Zealand championships as an elite sprinter and competed at the 2002 and 2006 Commonwealth Games and at the 2004 world championships. He retired from racing in 2008 to go into coaching.

Justin Grace said: “It’s an exciting time to be joining the Great Britain Cycling Team – they have an established reputation of being the team to beat when it comes to the Olympics and I’m looking forward to contributing to their future successes.”