Sir Chris Hoy raised the roof in the Olympic Velodrome on day three of the London Track World Cup as he delivered three impressive performances to win the
Keirin.
Jo Rowsell produced another strong showing to win the women's individual pursuit and Laura Trott was the plucky winner of the omnium elimination race while Vicky Pendleton, Jess Varnish and Ben Swift narrowly missed out on podium finishes.
Pendleton got the better of fellow Brit Varnish in a one-sided sprint quarter final, but once again she lost out in a close semi-final against Australian rival Anna Meares.
However, there can be no denying the highlight of the night - Hoy's victory in the keirin.
Interestingly, the Scot continues to experiment with his race craft, and once again rode the event from the front, middle and back en route to his win.
The reigning Olympic champion in the discipline looked fired up and rode the qualifying heat from the back before winning with a display that generated the loudest noise of the afternoon session. Matt Crampton (Sky Track Cycling) narrowly missed out on making it into the second round, but was handed a reprieve when the judges disqualified Colombian Fabian Zapata for an infringement.
The British duo came up against against each other in the second round, which Hoy duly won from the front. Crampton crashed on the home straight with a lap to go, but somehow did not bring anyone else down in the crash.
Crampton told Cycling Weekly that he was disappointed with his keirin display: "I was just trying to keep the door shut on the inside but I came out the red and then came on to the Cote d'Azur and just slid. I'm OK, got a few grazes, but that's all.
"The Keirin is my main target so it's all pretty disappointing. But we've got some time until the Worlds.
"I've got everything wrong here so it can't go any worse there!"
In the final, German Rene Enders led out of the banking, and immediately had Mickael Bourgain (France) baring down on him. Hoy followed, before he passed them in the home straight.
Britain's other victory on Saturday night came from an equally impressive display from Jo Rowsell. Just hours after she broke the world record as part of the team pursuit squad, she qualified fastest in the morning session. Rowsell then took a big scalp in the final, beating
Commonwealth champion Alison Shanks (New Zealand). Her tactics there couldn't have been more different to those in qualifying; she made a strong start and managed to hold on to take the victory, despite Shanks' best attempts to overhaul her.
It was a mixed day for Vicky Pendleton and Jess Varnish, who like Rowsell broke a world record in a team victory last night. Pendleton was the early pace-setter in qualifying before finishing fourth, while Varnish's personal best was good enough for fifth.
After progressing through the first round, the two Brits came up against each other in the quarter finals. Pendleton came back to win the first showdown, and overhauled her team-mate in the second race to set up the showdown with Meares.
The world champion comfortably one heat one, before Pendleton came back impressively to level the scores. However, the Brit was too far behind to fight back in the decider - she went on to finish fourth, after losing the bronze medal shoot-out to Wai Sze Lee 2-1. In another shock, Meares lost to Shuang Guo in the final.
Ben Swift finished a respectable sixth in the omnium, which concluded in the evening session. The Brit finished fourth in the omnium pursuit and won the scratch race after gaining a lap, which moved him to just outside the top three. However, his time time was only good enough for eleventh, thus scuppering his chances of finishing on the podium.
Unlike Rowsell, Laura Trott initally appeared to be tired during the omnium. She only just made it through her qualifying heat, but finished a strong second in the 250m flying lap. There were several near misses in a close elimination race, but she raised the roof as she continuously did what she needed to do to stay in. Remarkably, she held on to beat world champion Tara Whitten, which means she goes into tomorrow's three remaining races with a chance of a top three finish.
Results
Women's sprint
1. Shuang Guo (Chn)
2. Anna Meares (Aus)
3. Wai Sze Lee (Hkg)
4. Vicky Pendleton (GBr)
5. Jess Varnish (GBr)
Women's pursuit
1. Jo Rowsell (GBr)
2. Alison Shanks (Nzl)
3. Amy Cure (Aus)
Men's keirin
1. Sir Chris Hoy (GBr)
2. Rene Enders (Ger)
3. Mickael Bourgain (Fra)
11. Matt Crampton (Sky)
Men's omnium
Round IV - Pursuit
1. Juan Esteban Arango (Col)
2. Zach Bell (Can)
3. Ho Sung Cho (Kor)
4. Ben Swift (GBr)
Round V - Scratch race
1. Ben Swift (GBr)
2. Rafal Ratajczyk (Pol)
3. Roger Kluge (Ger)
Round VI - 1km TT
1. Zach Bell (Can)
2. Juan Esteban Arango (Col)
3. R Ratajczyk (Pol)
11. Ben Swift (GBr)
Overall
1. Juan Esteban Arango (Col)
2. Ho Sung Cho (Kor)
3. Zach Bell (Can)
6. Ben Swift (GBr)
Women's omnium
Round I - 250m flying lap
1. Li Huang (Chn)
2. Laura Trott (GBr)
3. Sarah Hammer (USA)
Round II - Points race
1. Sofia Arreola (Mex)
2. Svitlana Galyul (Ukr)
3. Valentina Scandolara (Ita)
17. Laura Trott (GBr)
Round III - Elimination
1. Laura Trott (GBr)
2. Tara Whitten (Can)
3. Kirsten Wild (Ned)
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