King to leave Wiggle High5 at end of season

King, who switched to the road after winning team pursuit gold at the London 2012 Olympic Games, told Gilmore of the decision on the same day she found out she had missed out on selection for Team GB's squad for the Rio road race.

Since switching to the road King won the inaugural women's Milk Race in 2013, then recovered from a serious crash in November 2014 to win the 2015 Tour of the Reservoir and finish third in the 2016 Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race.

With this season seeing the introduction of the first ever Women's WorldTour, Gilmore thinks King has ambitions of leading a team of her own and sympathised with her decision see out her contract and depart at the end of the year.

"I initially thought that she was going to retire," said Gilmore.

"Fortunately, that's not the case. Dani will search for a new team where she can be the leader in order to reach her full potential.

"Dani will be dearly missed by all of us at Wiggle High5. I wish her the very best with her new team and career."

Sportsbeat 2016