By Gary Anderson

Iain Dyer has been appointed as coach coordinator for podium coach-related operations at British Cycling ©Getty ImagesBritish Cycling has announced the appointment of a number of key personnel to coaching positions in its track cycling programme as the build-up to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games continues.

Iain Dyer has been appointed as coach coordinator and will be responsible for the coordination of podium coach-related operations, assisting in coach development planning and will be involved in major event selection panels in addition to his existing role as lead podium sprint coach.

Dyer oversaw the British sprint team at London 2012 which won two gold medals and one silver.

Jason Kenny won the men's individual sprint, while Victoria Pendleton claimed silver in the women's event.

Philip Hindes, Sir Chris Hoy and Kenny also took gold in the men's team sprint competition.

British Cycling's Olympic Podium Programme is dedicated to supporting elite cyclists as they aim to win medals in major competitions, such as European and World Championships as well as Olympic Games.

"I am pleased that Iain Dyer has accepted the additional responsibility to become coach coordinator which I think will galvanise the work of the podium coaches," said British Cycling's technical director, Shane Sutton.

"I believe that these changes, along with the recent addition of Justin Grace to the sprint squad coaching team, put us in good stead at this stage of the Olympic cycle."

Meanwhile, German Heiko Salzwedel returns for a third stint with British Cycling.

Salzwedel has been appointed as the lead podium coach for men's endurance and will oversee the pursuit and omnium events.

Previously, he had spells as performance manager at British Cycling as well as working with the Danish and Australian cycling federations.

As the Danish national track cycling coach, he guided the men's team pursuit squad to silver at Beijing 2008.

German Heiko Salzwedel has returned for a third spell working with British Cycling ©Getty ImagesGerman Heiko Salzwedel has returned for a third spell working with British Cycling
©Getty Images



In 2010, Salzwedel took up a coaching role with the Russian cycling team guiding them to men's team pursuit silver at the World Championships in Apeldoorn, The Netherlands, in 2011, while he also was in charge at the London 2012 Olympics.

"I'm very happy to be returning to the Great Britain cycling team," said the 57-year-old, whose most recent role was as coach of the Swiss under-23 men's team.

"The bar continues to rise on the men's endurance events and I'm looking forward to coaching the team to future successes."

Salzwedel will be joined by Paul Manning, who will take up the role of lead podium coach for women's endurance, while Chris Newton has been appointed Olympic Academy coach for men's endurance.

Based at British Cycling's headquarters in Manchester, the Academy is the finishing school that fine tunes athletes to make the jump to the senior programme and prepares them for graduation onto the Olympic Podium Programme.

It typically features riders aged between 18 to 23-years-old.

"I'm pleased to be able to welcome Heiko back on to the Great Britain cycling team in the role of national men's endurance coach," added Sutton, who became technical director at British Cycling earlier this year after a reshuffle following the resignation of Sir Dave Brailsford as performance director.

"He has a wealth of knowledge and experience which I believe will help drive forward the performances of the men's endurance squad.

"Paul picks up his role from London 2012 and will coach the women's endurance team, whilst Chris will focus on coaching and developing endurance riders on the Academy programme with the aim of bolstering our Podium programme."

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