Rule Brittania as Hoy and co. clean up

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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