FLYING START FOR BRITS IN TRACK WORLD CUP

BRITISH riders got off to a flying start on the opening evening of the track World Cup in Manchester last night with Chris Hoy, Bradley Wiggins and Victoria Pendleton all taking gold medals.

Hoy took the first win of the evening when he clocked 1 minute 1.500 seconds to win the kilometre time trial in a nail-biting dual against Frenchman François Pervis. The Olympic Champion had briefly dropped off the pace at the bell but kept his composure to win by less than four hundredths of a second.

In the individual pursuit an anticipated repeat of the Athens Olympic final failed to materialise when Australian Brad McGee could only qualify third fastest. Instead Wiggins faced World Cup leader Alexander Serov of Russia in the final and soundly beat him with the impressive time of 4 minutes 17.864 seconds.

Pendleton?s victory in the women?s sprint was similarly convincing. Having beaten her fellow Brit and young training partner Anna Blyth in the semis, the 2005 World Champion won the final in two straight rides ahead of Chinese rider Shuang Guo.

As did Hoy?s ride in the kilometre, Pendleton?s victory in the sprint secured her the overall World Cup title.

RESULTS

Men?s 1km time trial: 1 Chris Hoy (GB) 1min 1.500sec, 2 François Pervis (France) 1:01.535, 3 Tim Veldt (Netherlands) 1:02.617.

Women?s 20km points race: 1 Yoanka Gonzalez Perez (Cuba) 13 pts, 2 Belinda Goss (Australia) 9, 3 MB Lacota (Denmark) 7. Time: 26min 06.730sec.

Men?s 4km Individual Pursuit Final: Bradley Wiggins (GB) 4min 17.864sec bt Alexander Serov (Russia) 4:23.360. Bronze: Bradley McGee (Australia) 4:22.862 bt Jens Mouris (Netherlands) 4:28.978.

Women?s Sprint Final: Victoria Pendleton (Science in Sport) 11.914sec, 11.698sec bt Shuang Guo (China). Bronze: Anna Meares (Australia) 12.091, 11.994 bt Anna Blyth (GB).

Men?s Keirin: 1 Shane Perkins (Australian Institute of Sport), 2 Qi Tang (China), 3 H Mazquiaran Uria (Spain).

Mens 15km Scratch Race: 1 Rafat Ratajczyk (Poland), 2 Roger Kluge (Germany), 3 Charles Bradley Huff (USA).