European Track Championships Day 2: Great Britain sweeps team pursuit

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Great Britain once again proved its prowess in the team pursuit as both the men's and women's squads took gold at the European championships on Thursday.

Led by Bradley Wiggins, who took over in the final laps and drove the team to a dominant win, Great Britain easily beat Switzerland into silver with a time of 3:55.243, more than two seconds ahead of silver.

"That was classic team pursuiting there against a nation that has pushed us in every round," Wiggins told British Cycling after the race. "Until the end there, the last few laps, it wasn't in the bag and we had to fight and that is the spectacle of the team pursuit. I just love it."

In the ride for bronze, Denmark handled France to round out the podium.

The women's final followed the men's championship heat, where Great Britain again scored the gold, beating Russia with a time of  4:17.010 and overtaking their opponents in the final for good measure. Belarus beat Poland for bronze in the consolation round.

In the Team Sprint finals that followed, Netherlands' men nipped Poland for the gold by less than two tenths of a second, covering the three laps in 30.190. Germany claimed the bronze ahead of France in the consolation round.

In the women's Team Sprint, Russia claimed gold ahead of Germany, setting a mark of 18.677 to Germany's 19.040. In the consolation round, Netherlands grabbed bronze ahead of Spain.

Spain's Sebastian Mora took gold in the men's scratch race after lapping the field late in the 60-lap event. Tristan Marquet of Switzerland won the final sprint ahead of Poland's Adrian Teklinski, but with Mora a lap ahead those two had to settle for silver and bronze.

Katarzyna Pawlowska of Poland easily outpaced her rivals in the women's Points Race, beating Elise Delzenne of France by 10 points and Stephanie Pohl of Germany by 14.

The Polish rider earned gold with three top-three sprint finishes and by lapping the field twice. Delzenne and Pohl each lapped the field, along with Ganna Solovei of Ukraine, but it was Pawloska's second effort that gave her the win.

Morning Session: Great Britain dominates team pursuit, but team sprint stutters

Great Britain set up a gold medal final in the team pursuit against home nation Switzerland at the European Track Championships having setting the fastest time in the morning session, despite losing a rider, in round one. There was pressure on the team after they had gone fastest in qualifying in the opening session on Wednesday.

There was one change to the team that had set the blistering pace on day one, with 19-year-old Matt Gibson swapping in for Andy Tennant. Bradley Wiggins, Steven Burke and Owain Doull remained in the line-up. They had to make is past Russia for a shot at the gold and the two teams were close to begin but Russia fell behind as Great Britain found their stride.

There were slightly nervous moments when Gibson dropped off after 2,500 metres but Great Britain didn't miss a beat and continued to extend their advantage to set up a meeting with Switzerland, who beat France on their way through. France and Denmark will duke it out for the bronze medal.

Great Britain's women's team pursuit squad looked untouchable as they themselves rode into the gold medal match-up. The British, who had switched Laura Trott for Katie Archibald, demolished Poland as they caught them with a handful of laps remaining. Traditionally, the gun would sound and that would be the contest over but Great Britain had to ride around the flagging Polish team and set a time. It took them two laps to pass but they still set the fastest time once again.

Great Britain set up the fight for gold with Russia while Poland and Belarus finished third and fourth to contest the bronze medal competition.

It was not such a good day in the sprint competition, with both British squads finding themselves outside of the medal competitions. In the women's team sprint, Russia posted the fastest time of 32.324 to set up a final with Germany while the Netherlands and Spain will ride for the bronze medal. Great Britain went almost a second slower than Russia to finish fifth.

Poland were the pace setters in the men's sprint with their time of 43.127, with the Netherlands going second fastest to secure their place in the final. Old rivals Germany and France will go head to head for the bronze medal.

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