Cheam's Joanna Rowsell helped Great Britain win Olympic team pursuit gold in a world record time in London, but Laura Trott insists her team-mate is now a better cyclist than she was in 2012.

Trott and Rowsell were joined by Dani King at the London Velopark as Team GB covered the three kilometres in just three minute 14.051secs to beat the United States.

In addition to Olympic glory, Rowsell also has five World Championship gold medals and a Commonwealth Games title on her CV.

But after embarking on a new strength programme in recent times, Trott is adamant the 26-year-old is now even more dangerous.

“Joanna has done a lot in the gym recently, which she didn’t do a lot before London, so maybe she thinks that’s what she needs to work on now,” explained Trott.

“She’s focusing more on the strength side and I think that is really paying off. She told me a fact the other day that she’s doing 100 more watts on a standing start than she has ever done.

“That’s incredible because we’ve only been doing strength training for eight weeks! If that’s the case then she is going to be stronger and better than she was in London.

“And trust me, she was the best rider on that team pursuit team in London!”

Rowsell’s new conditioning programme may have been partly brought on by GB’s 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 [Horne] 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: www.prudentialridelondon.co.uk/