UK Sport and British Cycling have teamed up with multinational security organisation BAE Systems on the development of an advanced ergometer in advance of the Rio 2016 Olympics.

The system designed by BAE measures work-rate and energy loss, replicating the forces of the velodrome “more accurately than any other testing tool”. It was also designed to be easily portable, meaning it can be used in a laboratory “ensuring the data capture is more accurate”.

Paul Barratt, the lead biomechanist for the GB cycling team at the English Institute of Sport, said “highly-accurate testing tools” such as the new ergometer helped to “ensure atheltes are performing at their most competitive”.

“BAE Systems has created a portable and accurate system that we believe will be integral to the teams’ training regimes and will help us to achieve our medal winning target at the Rio Games,” he added.

“The cycling ergometer is a unique system which we hope will boost the success of the British Cycling team and is one of a number of projects on which we are working this year with UK Sport,” added BAE Systems’ UK Sport Technology Partnership Henry White.

British Cycling’s request for an adaptable tool that could be customised for different riders and events led to the development of the equipment. It strengthens the eight-year relationship between UK Sport and BAE, who have worked together to apply technology usually reserved for the armed forces for elite athletes.