Victoria Pendleton and Jess Varnish set a new world best of 32.754sec in the team sprint as they beat Kaarle McCulloch and Anna Meares of Australia, who had broken their own world record earlier in the day with a time of 32.828.

Dani King, Laura Trott and Joanna Rowsell then beat Canada in a record 3:18.148 in the team pursuit final before Sir Chris Hoy led GB's men's sprint team to bronze as they edged out Australia.

The team of Ross Edgar, Jason Kenny and Sir Chris had missed out on a final place in the qualifying session, and Germany went on to beat France for gold in the evening, but Hoy was overwhelmed by the atmosphere in the new velodrome.


Despite the comments from British Cycling's Performance Director Dave Brailsford, who had said before the action got underway that British riders faced a difficulty in that they would normally not sharpen up for a World Cup event which precedes a World Championships – which take place in Melbourne next month.

"The dilemma is that of course you want to try and perform well in front of a home crowd but on the other hand actually that might not be the ultimate in terms of what we want for the worlds," Brailsford said.

"We have to managed that a bit but everyone is excited.

"It's an opportunity."

By the end of the night it was clear that the British riders had taken that opportunity – as had the vociferous home crowd, as Sir Chris attested.

"Honestly, I've never been to any venue, any track in the world, and seen any home nation get the support we've had today," he said.

"The wall of noise when you're on the track is unbelievable.


"We all had lumps in our throat when Vicky and Jess were on the podium and it's hard not to get caught up in that emotion.

"I believe the crowd have been a decisive factor in our performances today.

"Goodness knows what it will be like in a few months' time."

And asked about his team's performance ahead of April's World Championships in Melbourne, and the Olympic Games in August, Sir Chris said: "We're probably about a length and a half behind [the top men's sprint teams] but we're a new formation, a new combination, and that was our fastest time since 2009.

"It's a medal; it's not gold, but it's a medal.

"Bring on the Olympics."

Kenny, who will battle Hoy for Britain's individual sprint spot at the Olympics, added: "We've been messing around a bit with the formation but we're definitely getting better and we can bridge that gap before the Worlds."

Pendleton and Varnish produced a stunning performance to beat world champions McCulloch and Meares in the first final of the evening, breaking the world best set by the Australian pair earlier in the day.

It gave a raucous home crowd the perfect start to the first big night of action at the Olympic venue.


"It is unbelievable, the crowd just roared," Pendleton (pictured above right) said.

"I was shaking on my bike."

The reigning Olympic sprint champion, who has struggled at times since Beijing while Meares has swept all before her, added: "I think it says we're a force to be reckoned with.

"We're quite a new team and we tried something a bit new with the gears in the final, and I think we learned something.

"It's a risk you've got to take - now is the time."

Varnish said: "I can't believe it, I need to pinch myself.

"It feels like a dream."

The British pursuit team had a change of line-up between the afternoon qualifying session and the final, with King coming in for Wendy Houvenaghel in a tactical switch, and it paid off.

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