The pair were part of the British women’s team pursuit line-up which claimed gold at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in a world record time.

Archibald and Barker, competing for Britain for the first time since the Games, will be part of a youthful squad which also includes Emily Kay, Manon Lloyd, Emily Nelson and Danni Khan.

Steven Burke will be the only member of the men’s Olympic team pursuit squad, who also claimed gold in Rio, to compete in France.

He will be joined by Ollie Wood, Mark Stewart, Kian Emadi and Matt Bostock in the endurance squad for the Championships, which are taking place until Sunday (October 23).

Further Olympic medallists will also be in action at the French national velodrome, including women’s team sprint silver medallists Daria Shmeleva and Anastasiia Voinova.

The Russian duo, who were beaten by China’s Gong Jinjie and Zhong Tianshi in Rio, will be aiming to defend the European titles they earned in both 2014 and 2015.

Bryan Coquard will be one of the home favourites in action during the Championships, with the 24-year-old seeking to defend the men’s elimination race title he claimed last year in Grenchen.

He boasts fond memories of the velodrome having claimed the world madison title with Morgan Kneisky at the venue in 2015.

Kneisky will be among those competing at the Championships, along with France’s World Championships madison silver medallist Benjamin Thomas.

The women’s 500 metres time trial and elimination race titles will be decided on day one tomorrow, along with the men’s kilo and scratch races.