HORSFORTH'S David Stone has been named on the Great Britain Cycling Team Para-cycling programme for 2017.

The 35-year-old will continue to compete in the men's T2 classification, alongside Craig McCann, with Paralympic gold medallist Karen Darke, who hopes to become a world champion for the first time, and Hannah Dines competing in the women's T2 classification.

Stone, who is an MBE, first rode for Great Britain in 1995, and has since established himself as one of the greatest male trike riders in the para-cycling history.

He won his first world title in 2005, is now an eight-time world champion and has competed in the last three Paralympic Games, winning three gold medals, a silver and a bronze.

But he took a break from the sport after the 2000 Paralympic Games, where he finished seventh in the road race and the time trial, to travel extensively throughout Asia and Europe, spending a lot of time in India.

After beginning a degree in social work in 2003, Stone took to the bike again, rejoining the Great Britain team in 2004 after competing at the National Time Trial Championships.

He won the road race and time trial at the World Championships in 2006 and 2007 and repeated the feat at the 2008 Paralympics and the 2010 World Championships.

Peter Durst had by now emerged as a credible rival and won the London Paralympics time trial, where Stone took bronze, but Durst missed the road race due to illness, Stone stepping up to take another gold.

His eighth world title followed in the road race in 2013 and, after taking another break from the sport in 2015, won bronze in the time trial and silver in the road race at the Rio Paralympics.

Leeds' Kadeena Cox is not in the squad due to her participation on reality television show The Jump, but is expected to be welcomed back once she has returned to full training.