Rule Brittania as Hoy and co. clean up

As rain pummelled the Victorian capital of Melbourne the opening day of the 2010/11 UCI Track World Cup Classics provided s storm of quality racing as two of track cycling's powerhouses - Australia and Great Britain - made their mark as the lead in to London began on Antipodean shores.

Advance Australia as local record tumbles

Having ridden an Australian all-comers record of 3.24.244 in qualifying - six tenths faster than second-placed Germany - the home trio of Josie Tomic, Kate Bates and Sarah Kent lowered that mark in the gold medal final with a time of 3.22.171.

It was an evenly-matched race for the first half of the 3,000m, with the Australians pulling away in the final kilometre to finish almost one second ahead of the German trio of Charlotte Becker, Lisa Brennauer and Madeleine Sandig. For Tomic and Kent, the win in Melbourne was proof to local fans that their world champion status in the event was no fluke.

Tomic told reporters that she was happy with the performance given the time of the season and that there "were good things to come for Worlds", adding that it was a good experienced to ride in the rainbow stripes in front of a home crowd.

Kent explained that the team had a target of around 3.22 or 3.23 and achieved that with a time of 3.22.171. The third - and newest - member of the team, Kate Bates, was a debutant in the event at the age of 28; she noticeably struggled with the distance given the amount of time she's spent away from the sport due to injury but said she was "absolutely stoked" with the ride.

It was a similar affair in the final for bronze, as pursuiting powerhouse New Zealand took on the relatively unheralded Canadian squad of Tara Whitten, Laura Brown and Stephanie Roorda.

New Zealand's trio of Kaytee Boyd, Lauren Ellis and Jaime Nielsen posted a time of 3.23.477, which was faster than the top qualifying mark

Chinese fortune reaps gold

China was a surprise winner in the women's team sprint, as Jinjie Gong and Lin Junhong beat the British duo of Victoria Pendleton and Jessica Varnish in the gold medal final. Gong and Junhong were the fastest qualifiers but relied on a hint of good luck to secure the win.

Pendleton explained afterwards that her 'holder' at the start gate let go a little too early, causing her to slightly lose balance and begin the race on the back foot. Varnish came out of the blocks quickly and Pendleton had to work too hard to follow her young teammate's wheel, resulting in a time of 33.562, over three tenths of a second slower than the Chinese pair's winning mark.

The battle for bronze was a closely-fought affair as French duo Sandie Clair and Clara Sanchez edged out the Dutch pair of Willy Kanis and Yvonne Hijgenaar.

Howard and Meyer make them suffer in Madison

The class and quality of Australia's Leigh Howard and Cameron Meyer was again on show in the men's 40km Madison. Using their tried and tested 'shock and awe' tactics which have seen them win many plaudits in the last two years for their prowess and power in the Madison.

They used their innate ability to attack hard and sustain those forays to wreck maximum havoc on the opposition. They also demonstrated their maturity by hitting the field at the right times and sitting back in the pack when it was required.

This could be seen when Meyer attacked shortly after the fourth sprint of the 160-lap event; with 69 laps remaining they took their first lap, after which only three teams - Netherlands, New Zealand and Hong Kong - could regain parity.

With about 46 laps to go Howard and Meyer pinned their ears like a greyhound and took back the adscendancy 10 laps later when they put the result beyond doubt. From that point the two Australians only had to defend any dangerous moves - of which there were few - as the world champion pairing demoralised the opposition.

Hoy happy with GB team sprint progress

It could be argued that there was never any doubt about the result in the men's team sprint, with Great Britain setting a time of 43.939 in qualifying and 43.829 in gold medal final. The trio of Matthew Crampton, Sir Chris Hoy and Jason Kenny was the only team to ride below 44 seconds in the opening round of the World Cup, which was faster than their time in the European Track Championships.

New Zealand continued to impress with solid times of 44.278 and 44.339 in qualifying and the gold medal final, as Edward Dawkins, Ethan Mitchell and Sam Webster showed their continued improvement and potential as a medal contender for the London Olympics in two years' time.

In the race for third the Jayco-AIS team of Daniel Ellis, Shane Perkins and Jason Niblett outdid the German trio of Rene Enders, Stefan Nimke, Michael Seidenbecher with a 44.545 to end the night's racing.

Full results

Swipe to scroll horizontally
Women's Team Sprint - Qualifying
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1China0:00:33.320
Row 1 - Cell 0 Jinjie Gong (Chn) People's Republic of ChinaRow 1 - Cell 2
Row 2 - Cell 0 Lin Junhong (Chn) People's Republic of ChinaRow 2 - Cell 2
2Greece0:00:33.443
Row 4 - Cell 0 Victoria Pendleton (GBr) Great BritainRow 4 - Cell 2
Row 5 - Cell 0 Jessica Varnish (GBr) Great BritainRow 5 - Cell 2
3France0:00:33.526
Row 7 - Cell 0 Sandie Clair (Fra) FranceRow 7 - Cell 2
Row 8 - Cell 0 Clara Sanchez (Fra) FranceRow 8 - Cell 2
4Netherlands0:00:33.748
Row 10 - Cell 0 Yvonne Hijgenaar (Ned) NetherlandsRow 10 - Cell 2
Row 11 - Cell 0 Willy Kanis (Ned) NetherlandsRow 11 - Cell 2
5Germany0:00:33.826
Row 13 - Cell 0 Kristina Vogel (Ger) GermanyRow 13 - Cell 2
Row 14 - Cell 0 Miriam Welte (Ger) GermanyRow 14 - Cell 2
6TEAM JAYCO­AIS0:00:33.847
Row 16 - Cell 0 Kaarle Mcculloch (Aus) TEAM JAYCO­AISRow 16 - Cell 2
Row 17 - Cell 0 Emily Rosemond (Aus) TEAM JAYCO­AISRow 17 - Cell 2
7Lithuania0:00:34.586
Row 19 - Cell 0 Gintare Gaivenyte (Ltu) LithuaniaRow 19 - Cell 2
Row 20 - Cell 0 Simona Krupeckaite (Ltu) LithuaniaRow 20 - Cell 2
8Spain0:00:35.098
Row 22 - Cell 0 Tania Calvo Barbero (Spa) SpainRow 22 - Cell 2
Row 23 - Cell 0 Helena Casas Roige (Spa) SpainRow 23 - Cell 2
9MOSCOW TRACK TEAM0:00:35.190
Row 25 - Cell 0 Olga Streltsova (Rus) MOSCOW TRACK TEAMRow 25 - Cell 2
Row 26 - Cell 0 Anastasya Voinova (Rus) MOSCOW TRACK TEAMRow 26 - Cell 2
10Hong Kong0:00:35.452
Row 28 - Cell 0 Wai Sze Lee (HKg) Hong Kong, ChinaRow 28 - Cell 2
Row 29 - Cell 0 Zhao Juan Meng (HKg) Hong Kong, ChinaRow 29 - Cell 2
11Greece0:00:35.464
Row 31 - Cell 0 Angeliki Koutsonikoli (Gre) GreeceRow 31 - Cell 2
Row 32 - Cell 0 Dimitra Patapi (Gre) GreeceRow 32 - Cell 2
12New Zealand0:00:36.011
Row 34 - Cell 0 Stephanie Mckenzie (NZl) New ZealandRow 34 - Cell 2
Row 35 - Cell 0 Henrietta Mitchell (NZl) New ZealandRow 35 - Cell 2
13Thailand0:00:36.075
Row 37 - Cell 0 Jutatip Maneephan (Tha) ThailandRow 37 - Cell 2
Row 38 - Cell 0 Chanakan Sricha­Um (Tha) ThailandRow 38 - Cell 2
14TREADS.COM/DFT0:00:37.940
Row 40 - Cell 0 Megan Hottman (USA) TREADS.COM/DFTRow 40 - Cell 2
Row 41 - Cell 0 Jessica Laws (Aus) TREADS.COM/DFTRow 41 - Cell 2
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Women's Team Sprint - Final
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1China0:00:33.240
Row 1 - Cell 0 Jinjie Gong (Chn) People's Republic of ChinaRow 1 - Cell 2
Row 2 - Cell 0 Shuang Guo (Chn) People's Republic of ChinaRow 2 - Cell 2
2Greece0:00:33.562
Row 4 - Cell 0 Victoria Pendleton (GBr) Great BritainRow 4 - Cell 2
Row 5 - Cell 0 Jessica Varnish (GBr) Great BritainRow 5 - Cell 2
3France0:00:33.655
Row 7 - Cell 0 Sandie Clair (Fra) FranceRow 7 - Cell 2
Row 8 - Cell 0 Clara Sanchez (Fra) FranceRow 8 - Cell 2
4Netherlands0:00:33.664
Row 10 - Cell 0 Yvonne Hijgenaar (Ned) NetherlandsRow 10 - Cell 2
Row 11 - Cell 0 Willy Kanis (Ned) NetherlandsRow 11 - Cell 2
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Men's Team Sprint - Qualifying
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Greece0:00:43.939
Row 1 - Cell 0 Matthew Crampton (GBr) Great BritainRow 1 - Cell 2
Row 2 - Cell 0 Chris Hoy (GBr) Great BritainRow 2 - Cell 2
Row 3 - Cell 0 Jason Kenny (GBr) Great BritainRow 3 - Cell 2
2New Zealand0:00:44.278
Row 5 - Cell 0 Edward Dawkins (NZl) New ZealandRow 5 - Cell 2
Row 6 - Cell 0 Ethan Mitchell (NZl) New ZealandRow 6 - Cell 2
Row 7 - Cell 0 Sam Webster (NZl) New ZealandRow 7 - Cell 2
3Germany0:00:44.301
Row 9 - Cell 0 Rene Enders (Ger) GermanyRow 9 - Cell 2
Row 10 - Cell 0 Stefan Nimke (Ger) GermanyRow 10 - Cell 2
Row 11 - Cell 0 Michael Seidenbecher (Ger) GermanyRow 11 - Cell 2
4TEAM JAYCO­AIS0:00:44.409
Row 13 - Cell 0 Daniel Ellis (Aus) TEAM JAYCO­AISRow 13 - Cell 2
Row 14 - Cell 0 Jason Niblett (Aus) TEAM JAYCO­AISRow 14 - Cell 2
Row 15 - Cell 0 Shane Perkins (Aus) TEAM JAYCO­AISRow 15 - Cell 2
5Japan0:00:44.731
Row 17 - Cell 0 Kazuki Amagai (Jpn) JapanRow 17 - Cell 2
Row 18 - Cell 0 Tsubasa Kitatsuru (Jpn) JapanRow 18 - Cell 2
Row 19 - Cell 0 Kazunari Watanabe (Jpn) JapanRow 19 - Cell 2
6Netherlands0:00:44.740
Row 21 - Cell 0 Teun Mulder (Ned) NetherlandsRow 21 - Cell 2
Row 22 - Cell 0 Yondi Schmidt (Ned) NetherlandsRow 22 - Cell 2
Row 23 - Cell 0 Roy Van Den Berg (Ned) NetherlandsRow 23 - Cell 2
7Team Erdgas.20120:00:44.842
Row 25 - Cell 0 Carsten Bergemann (Ger) Team Erdgas.2012Row 25 - Cell 2
Row 26 - Cell 0 Joachim Eilers (Ger) Team Erdgas.2012Row 26 - Cell 2
Row 27 - Cell 0 Robert Forstemann (Ger) Team Erdgas.2012Row 27 - Cell 2
8Australia0:00:44.856
Row 29 - Cell 0 Alex Bird (Aus) AustraliaRow 29 - Cell 2
Row 30 - Cell 0 Matthew Glaetzer (Aus) AustraliaRow 30 - Cell 2
Row 31 - Cell 0 Peter Lewis (Aus) AustraliaRow 31 - Cell 2
9China0:00:44.864
Row 33 - Cell 0 Changsong Cheng (Chn) People's Republic of ChinaRow 33 - Cell 2
Row 34 - Cell 0 Yong Feng (Chn) People's Republic of ChinaRow 34 - Cell 2
Row 35 - Cell 0 Miao Zhang (Chn) People's Republic of ChinaRow 35 - Cell 2
10Poland0:00:44.948
Row 37 - Cell 0 Maciej Bielecki (Pol) PolandRow 37 - Cell 2
Row 38 - Cell 0 Kamil Kuczynski (Pol) PolandRow 38 - Cell 2
Row 39 - Cell 0 Damian Zielinski (Pol) PolandRow 39 - Cell 2
11MOSCOW TRACK TEAM0:00:44.992
Row 41 - Cell 0 Sergey Borisov (Rus) MOSCOW TRACK TEAMRow 41 - Cell 2
Row 42 - Cell 0 Denis Dmitriev (Rus) MOSCOW TRACK TEAMRow 42 - Cell 2
Row 43 - Cell 0 Sergey Kucherov (Rus) MOSCOW TRACK TEAMRow 43 - Cell 2
12YSD TRACK TEAM0:00:45.170
Row 45 - Cell 0 Mohd Rizal Tisin (Mas) YSD TRACK TEAMRow 45 - Cell 2
Row 46 - Cell 0 Azizulhasni Awang (Mas) YSD TRACK TEAMRow 46 - Cell 2
Row 47 - Cell 0 Muhammad Edrus Md Yunos (Mas) YSD TRACK TEAMRow 47 - Cell 2
13Canada0:00:45.210
Row 49 - Cell 0 Stéphane Cossette (Can) CanadaRow 49 - Cell 2
Row 50 - Cell 0 Travis Smith (Can) CanadaRow 50 - Cell 2
Row 51 - Cell 0 Joseph Veloce (Can) CanadaRow 51 - Cell 2
14Czech Republic0:00:45.310
Row 53 - Cell 0 Tomas Babek (Cze) Czech RepublicRow 53 - Cell 2
Row 54 - Cell 0 Adam Ptacnik (Cze) Czech RepublicRow 54 - Cell 2
Row 55 - Cell 0 Denis Spicka (Cze) Czech RepublicRow 55 - Cell 2
15Russia0:00:45.466
Row 57 - Cell 0 Sergey Polynskiy (Rus) Russian FederationRow 57 - Cell 2
Row 58 - Cell 0 Valentin Savitskiy (Rus) Russian FederationRow 58 - Cell 2
Row 59 - Cell 0 Pavel Yakushevskiy (Rus) Russian FederationRow 59 - Cell 2
16Ukraine0:00:46.027
Row 61 - Cell 0 Artem Frolov (Ukr) UkraineRow 61 - Cell 2
Row 62 - Cell 0 Sergiy Omelchenko (Ukr) UkraineRow 62 - Cell 2
Row 63 - Cell 0 Andrii Vynokurov (Ukr) UkraineRow 63 - Cell 2
17Greece0:00:46.542
Row 65 - Cell 0 Sotirios Bretas (Gre) GreeceRow 65 - Cell 2
Row 66 - Cell 0 Christos Volikakis (Gre) GreeceRow 66 - Cell 2
Row 67 - Cell 0 Zafeiris Volikakis (Gre) GreeceRow 67 - Cell 2
18Spain0:00:46.590
Row 69 - Cell 0 Sergio Aliaga Chivite (Spa) SpainRow 69 - Cell 2
Row 70 - Cell 0 Itmar Esteban Herraiz (Spa) SpainRow 70 - Cell 2
Row 71 - Cell 0 Juan Peralta Gascon (Spa) SpainRow 71 - Cell 2
19Italy0:00:46.732
Row 73 - Cell 0 Valerio Catellini (Ita) ItalyRow 73 - Cell 2
Row 74 - Cell 0 Francesco Ceci (Ita) ItalyRow 74 - Cell 2
Row 75 - Cell 0 Luca Ceci (Ita) ItalyRow 75 - Cell 2
DSQI. R. IranRow 76 - Cell 2
Row 77 - Cell 0 Farshid Farsi Nejadian (IRI) Islamic Republic of IranRow 77 - Cell 2
Row 78 - Cell 0 Mohammad Parash (IRI) Islamic Republic of IranRow 78 - Cell 2
Row 79 - Cell 0 Hassanali Varposhti (IRI) Islamic Republic of IranRow 79 - Cell 2
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Men's Team Sprint - Final
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Great Britain0:00:43.829
Row 1 - Cell 0 Jason Kenny (GBr) Great BritainRow 1 - Cell 2
Row 2 - Cell 0 Matthew Crampton (GBr) Great BritainRow 2 - Cell 2
Row 3 - Cell 0 Chris Hoy (GBr) Great BritainRow 3 - Cell 2
2New Zealand0:00:44.339
Row 5 - Cell 0 Edward Dawkins (NZl) New ZealandRow 5 - Cell 2
Row 6 - Cell 0 Ethan Mitchell (NZl) New ZealandRow 6 - Cell 2
Row 7 - Cell 0 Sam Webster (NZl) New ZealandRow 7 - Cell 2
3TEAM JAYCO­AIS0:00:44.545
Row 9 - Cell 0 Daniel Ellis (Aus) TEAM JAYCO­AISRow 9 - Cell 2
Row 10 - Cell 0 Jason Niblett (Aus) TEAM JAYCO­AISRow 10 - Cell 2
Row 11 - Cell 0 Shane Perkins (Aus) TEAM JAYCO­AISRow 11 - Cell 2
4Germany0:00:44.938
Row 13 - Cell 0 Rene Enders (Ger) GermanyRow 13 - Cell 2
Row 14 - Cell 0 Stefan Nimke (Ger) GermanyRow 14 - Cell 2
Row 15 - Cell 0 Michael Seidenbecher (Ger) GermanyRow 15 - Cell 2
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Women's Team Pursuit - Final
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Australia0:03:22.171
Row 1 - Cell 0 Katherine Bates (Aus) AustraliaRow 1 - Cell 2
Row 2 - Cell 0 Sarah Kent (Aus) AustraliaRow 2 - Cell 2
Row 3 - Cell 0 Josephine Tomic (Aus) AustraliaRow 3 - Cell 2
2Germany0:03:23.166
Row 5 - Cell 0 Charlotte Becker (Ger) GermanyRow 5 - Cell 2
Row 6 - Cell 0 Lisa Brennauer (Ger) GermanyRow 6 - Cell 2
Row 7 - Cell 0 Madeleine Sandig (Ger) GermanyRow 7 - Cell 2
3New Zealand0:03:23.477
Row 9 - Cell 0 Kaytee Boyd (NZl) New ZealandRow 9 - Cell 2
Row 10 - Cell 0 Lauren Ellis (NZl) New ZealandRow 10 - Cell 2
Row 11 - Cell 0 Jaime Nielsen (NZl) New ZealandRow 11 - Cell 2
4Canada0:03:25.402
Row 13 - Cell 0 Tara Whitten (Can) CanadaRow 13 - Cell 2
Row 14 - Cell 0 Laura Brown (Can) CanadaRow 14 - Cell 2
Row 15 - Cell 0 Stephanie Roorda (Can) CanadaRow 15 - Cell 2
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Men's Omnium - Elimination Race
#Rider Name (Country) Team
1Tim Veldt (Ned) Netherlands
2Jan Dostal (Cze) Czech Republic
3Luis Mansilla (Chi) Chile
4Shane Archbold (NZl) New Zealand
5Julien Duval (Fra) France
6Edward Clancy (GBr) Great Britain
7Scott Law (Aus) Australia
8Angelo Ciccone (Ita) Italy
9Eloy Teruel Rovira (Spa) Spain
10Kazuhiro Mori (Jpn) Japan
11Jan Keller (Swi) Switzerland
12Marcel Kalz (Ger) Germany
13Rafal Ratajczyk (Pol) Poland
14Carlos Alberto Uran Arroyave (Col) Colombia
15Zachary Bell (Can) Canada
16Carlos Daniel Linarez Zambrano (Ven) Venezuela
17Niki Byrgesen (Den) Denmark
18Sebastian Cancio (Arg) Argentina
19Ivan Kovalev (Rus) Russian Federation
20Behnam Khalili Khosroshahi (IRI) Islamic Republic of Iran
21Ho Ting Kwok (HKg) Hong Kong, China
22Serhei Sakavets (Blr) Belarus
23Andreas Graf (Aut) Austria
DNSIngmar De Poortere (Bel) Belgium
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Men's Madison
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResultHeader Cell - Column 3
1Cameron Meyer / Leigh Howard (Aus) Australia10pts
2Aaron Gate / Myron Simpson (NZL) New Zealand14Row 1 - Cell 3
3Nick Stopler / Peter Schep (Ned) Netherlands10Row 2 - Cell 3
4Ki Ho Choi / King Lok Cheung (HKG) Hong Kong4Row 3 - Cell 3
5Eduardo Sepulveda / Gerardo Luis Fernandez (Arg) Argentina9Row 4 - Cell 3
6Alexander Khatuntsev / Valery Valynin (Rus) Russia4Row 5 - Cell 3
7Christian Ranneries / Lasse Norman Hansen (Den) Denmark9Row 6 - Cell 3
8Nicky Cocquyt / Moreno De Pauw (Bel) Belgium8Row 7 - Cell 3
9Mykhaylo Radionov / Sergiy Lagkuti (Ukr) Ukraine5Row 8 - Cell 3
10Sergi Escobar Roure / David Muntaner Juaneda (Spa) Spain12Row 9 - Cell 3
11Luis Fernando Sepulveda / Gonzalo Miranda (Chi) Chile2Row 10 - Cell 3
12Iban Leanizbarrutia Cruz / Martzel Elorriaga Azpitarte (Spa) Cespa­EuskadiRow 11 - Cell 2 Row 11 - Cell 3
DNFAlex Buttazzoni / Omar Bertazzo (Ita) ItalyRow 12 - Cell 2 Row 12 - Cell 3

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