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Cycling-King hits out at British Cycling over Rio omission

June 22 (Reuters) - Olympic champion Dani King criticised British Cycling's "unfair" selection process after she was left out the country's road race team for the Rio Games, British media reported. The Daily Telegraph reported that the three spots in the British team for the women's road race are set be filled by world champion Lizzie Armitstead, Nikki Harris and Emma Pooley. The British Olympic Association will officially announce the cycling team in Manchester on Friday. "I want to be very clear, this is not about Emma, it's not about Nikki either. It is about British Cycling's criteria and selection process," she was quoted as saying in the Daily Telegraph. "In terms of results, I should have been selected, it's as simple as that. I should be second on the list behind Lizzie (Armitstead). "I find it shocking that none of the selectors have actually been to any of my races this year. How is that fair?" King, who won the track team pursuit gold four years ago in London, recovered from serious injuries suffered in a training crash in 2014, and was asked to concentrate on the road race. The 25-year-old, questioned the selection of Pooley in particular, who has contested only two races this year. "I was told to focus on the hardest races and I exceeded all expectations in terms of my performances and my results," she added. "But how can they select someone who has only ridden a couple of races? "I've had nine top-10s, including a seventh at the Philadelphia Classic, a World Tour race. I've also had 10 top-20 results." The Olympics will be staged in Rio from Aug. 5-21. (Reporting by Nivedita Shankar in Bengaluru, editing by Pritha Sarkar)