Rio 2016: Dani King criticises GB Olympic selectors after missing out

Dani King (left) won gold in the women's team pursuit at London 2012

Dani King has criticised the "unfair" selection process after being left out of Great Britain's Rio 2016 road race team.

Emma Pooley and Nikki Harris are expected to support London 2012 silver medallist Lizzie Armitstead in Rio.

King, who won London 2012 track gold and is ranked above Pooley and Harris, questioned the selection of Pooley, who has competed in only two races in 2016.

"I should be second on the list behind Lizzie," she told the Daily Telegraph.

"I want to be very clear, this is not about Emma," King, 25, added. "She is an incredible athlete and a lovely person. And she was very open about coming back late in the cycle and leaving it up to the selectors to decide.

"But how can they select someone who has only ridden a couple of races? I've had nine top-10s, including a seventh at the Philadelphia Classic, a World Tour race. I've also had 10 top-20 results."

She said she found it "shocking" that none of the selectors had been to any of her races this year.

"How is that fair?" she said. "It feels like they had already made their minds up, and if that's the case I could have been told even before I started really campaigning last November.

"As I say, it's not about Emma. It's not about Nikki either. It is about British Cycling's criteria and selection process."

King won track team pursuit Olympic gold in London but after a serious accident in late 2014 she was told to focus on the road.

She is the second highest-ranked British rider in the UCI Women's World Tour after Armitstead.

The official announcement of the Great Britain cycling team for August's Olympics is set to be made on Friday.

King's criticism is the latest blow to hit British Cycling in the run-up to the Games.

A number of reviews are ongoing at the sport's national governing body after technical director Shane Sutton quit amid claims of sexism and use of derogatory language towards Para-cyclists.

Allegations against Sutton - which he denies - are being investigated, while a wider review into whether there are "fundamental behavioural issues" in British Cycling's World Class Programme will report back after the Olympics.

A third inquiry is also underway into claims official British Cycling kit was available to buy online.