Jess Varnish has insisted that she will try to win back her place in the British Cycling team ahead of this summer's Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

The 25-year-old claimed that she was unfairly dropped by the team after failing to qualify for Rio 2016 in the World Championships in April.

Varnish accused recently-resigned technical director Shane Sutton of sexist abuse by alleging that he told her to "go and have a baby" after her contract was not renewed.

Sutton, who was also alleged to have made derogatory comments about para-cyclists, stepped down from his role at British Cycling last month.

Now, Varnish plans to meet with the team's new performance director Andy Harrison later this week.

"My immediate priority is to win back my place on the British Cycling team, ahead of the 2016 Olympic Games, and to prove that I was, and still am, good enough to win medals for Great Britain," Varnish said in a statement. "I have reached out to the new performance director at British Cycling, Andy Harrison, and will meet with him on my return to the UK.

"I still maintain that the decision not to renew my contract was not down to performance. Prior to the 2016 world championships I was not once told that I was underperforming. We have monthly reviews and at no stage was I put under review, or set performance targets to keep my place on the programme.

"The first I knew that the coaches had an issue with my performance levels, or training data, was five days after the 2016 world championships, when I was told I wouldn't be getting a new contract over the phone."

At London 2012, Varnish and Victoria Pendleton were disqualified from the team sprint final.