Joanna Rowsell Shand says it will be a tall order for Great Britain to take team pursuit gold at next summer’s Olympic Games after she helped her team take the national title.

The Commonwealth champion was part of a strong team that included Dame Sarah Storey, Katie Archibald and Ciara Horne that rode to team pursuit victory on Saturday.

The Pearl Izumi Sports Tours International team caught VC St Raphael less than halfway through the four-kilometre race to take the title.

Rowsell Shand led the team before Katie Archibald took over and Sarah Storey caught their opponents with two kilometres to go.

But Rowsell Shand says a world record will be needed if Britain are going to take gold at Rio 2016.

"Undoubtedly the event has changed and it's not the same event it was in London," she said.

"In Rio it won't be a matter of trying to win gold again, it'll be like winning gold for the first time.

"It's a tough challenge that lies ahead but I'm really looking forward to it.

"I think it'll take a world record to win gold in Rio. The bar was set high in Paris by the Australians with 4:13 and we’ll have to go quicker than that in order to come away with gold."

© Sportsbeat 2015