Grant Ferguson added to Britain's Olympic Games cycling squad

Great Britain will have a rider in the mountain bike competition at the Olympic Games in Rio after Grant Ferguson was added to the squad.

The 22-year-old was not part of the 26-strong squad named last month, with no riders originally selected for the men's and women's events which take place on the last two days of the Games, August 20 and 21.

Ferguson enjoyed a successful 2015 season, winning a silver medal in the European Championships in Italy and concluding the year with a bronze medal at the U23 Mountain Bike World Championships in Andorra.

He also achieved a career-best 15th place finish at elite World Cup level in May.

Ferguson said: "I'm thrilled to have been selected to represent Great Britain at the Rio Olympic Games thanks to the support of British Cycling.

"I was fortunate enough to be on the BOA's Olympic Ambition Programme in 2012 and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience so to be able to actually compete this time is really exciting and I can't wait to get out there."

British Cycling has also confirmed that two riders made unsuccessful appeals after being left out of the squad - the domestic governing body has not named either.

A number of riders complained at being left out of the team while track star Jess Varnish also missed out but said she would not appeal the decision.

A joint British Cycling and BOA statement read: "Riders eligible to appeal were contacted by British Cycling on June 27 and were able to take advantage of a 48-hour appeals window in line with the process available to programme riders.

"Two appeals were received and considered under British Cycling's major event selection appeals procedure but were unsuccessful."