In partnering with the black and orange automobile and bike retailers, Trott joins a host of Olympians, past and present – Wiggins, Boardman and Pendleton.

Jill McDonald, Halfords CEO, said: “Laura Trott is an awe-inspiring athlete and it’s fantastic to launch this range of bikes with her in time for the Olympics as part of our biggest summer yet for women cyclists.”

Currently, cycling makes up 30 per cent of the company’s overall trade, yet they hold a 24 per cent market share alongside other super powers such as Wiggle, Chain Reaction Cycles and Evans Cycles. In terms of parts, accessories and clothing, they hold 15 per cent of the overall market – and 10 per cent of all repairs.

The addition of the Laura Trott bikes will mean that Halfords are able to offer their biggest ever range of women’s bikes, alongside 17 new own brand Apollo and Carrera models.

When we spoke to Commercial Director, Emma Fox, she told us improving the women’s range available, and shop floor presence was important saying: “One of the first things I remarked on when I joined Halfords was ‘where’s the women’s range?’. Then I chatted to British Cycling and said ‘I think there’s an increase in women cycling, is that right, is it what you’re seeing?’ and obviously they’ve got their big drive to get 1 million more women riding by 2020… so I knew there was a real business opportunity which is why we’ve gone about increasing ranges. And it’s not just about new ranges, it’s putting them into greater distribution, and adding mirrors so women can see what a jersey looks like if they pop it on in store – thinking like the customer. And the guys in the team are completely on board with it, they can see there’s a real commercial opportunity, the market is growing and it just makes perfect sense.”

We reviewed the Boardman Team Carbon Women’s bike recently, and were thoroughly impressed, and enjoyed riding their women’s 13 bike too.