Hoy and Meares reign supreme

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A decisive crash, sensational sprinting from Anna Meares and Sir Chris Hoy plus a lesson in kiwi consistency were the highlights from the second night of racing at the opening round of the UCI Track World Cup Classics in Melbourne, Australia.

Meares magnificent against Olympic champion

A crash during the first heat of the semi finals put Chinese rider Shuang Guo out of contention for the women's sprint crown and with Kristina Vogel's defeat at the hands of Olympic champion Victoria Pendleton it was the gold and silver medalists from Beijing - Pendleton and Meares - who would line up for the final.

Meares rode two brilliant heats of the gold medal final, surging hard in the back straight over the final lap to ride past Pendleton and clock a time of 11.8 in the first ride before backing up that effort with another stellar performance in the second.

Bold and brave ride from Archbold

Canadian Zach Bell may have won the scratch race but it was New Zealand's Shane Archbold who demonstrated kiwi consistency with a fifth place in that section of the men's omnium and a win in the individual pursuit that set up an eventual overall victory.

World champion Ed Clancy of Great Britain then took the kilo in a time of 1.02.586 later in the night to close the gap but Archbold, sporting a distinctive 'mullet' hairdo, had done enough to secure what was a memorable victory. Cyclingnews readers can learn more about his mullet in our interview with the New Zealander.

Gold aHoy!

A dominant Hoy lined up for the second round of the keirin intent on demonstrating his superiority in the event and the Scot achieved that, leading from start to finish against Dutch rider Teun Mulder before moving onto the final, where he shot past speedy Australian Scott Sunderland

French phenom Kevin Sireau played no further part in the competition after he was eliminated in the second heat of the keirin for riding past the derny before it had retreated. The Frenchman was one of the favourites to challenge Hoy but spent the rest of the evening on the sidelines.

The final itself was a fast-run affair; the fastest keirin ever, in fact, according to Hoy in his post-race interview. The last lap was an impressive 10.0 seconds, with Mulder once again sticking solidly to the wheel of his British adversary to take the silver.

It capped a fantastic meet for Hoy, who added another gold to that which he won the previous evening in the team sprint and indicated that he was back from any troubles he'd experiened over the past 12 months.

Full results