Great Britain's Track World Cup campaign continues strongly, with three medals on the opening day of the second round of the competition held in Cali, Colombia.
Team sprinters Victoria Pendleton and Jess Varnish scored gold for Britain in the women's sprint, beating German duo Mirian Welte and Kristina Vogel in the final. French pair Sandie Clair and Virginie Cueff beat Spain for bronze.
Pendleton and Varnish's gold-winning time of 33.322 was an improvement over their silver medal winning 33.562 two weeks previously in the World Cup's opening round in Melbourne - although Melbourne gold medallists China were absent from Cali.
Britain's male team sprint trio Sir Chris Hoy, Matt Crampton and Jason Kenny failed to repeat their gold medal performance in Melbourne, beaten this time by experienced French trio Gregory Bauge, Kevin Sireau and Michael D'Almeida. GB and France were the only two teams to go under 44 seconds. New Zealand took team sprint bronze against Poland.
As a mark of their consistency, both the men's and women's British team sprint squads lead their respective World Cup standings with two rounds remaining.
In their first outing in the 2010/11 World Cup, Great Britain's women team pursuiters put in a solid performance to win bronze with a time that, had they made the gold final, would have given them silver. In the event, New Zealand took the gold with the American Ouch trio placing second.
Omnium world champion Ed Clancy started his campaign with another convincing performance, finishing the night second overall on the omnium leader board half-way through the event's six rounds. Local talent Juan Arango (Colombia) leads overall, with German Erik Mohs in third. Melbourne winner Shane Archibold (New Zeland) is absent from Cali.
Frenchman Morgan Kneisky added to his compatriot's gold in the men's team sprint by winning the men's scratch race ahead of Belgian Giks Van Hoecke in second and Martin Blaha (Czech Republic) in third. Britain did not enter a rider in the event.
The Cali round of the UCI Track World Cup continues on Friday (December 17) with finals of the women's individual pursuit, men's omnium, men's keirin and women's sprint.
Houvenaghel will be contesting the women's individual pursuit, Kenny races the keirin and both Varnish and Pendleton take on the women's individual sprint.
The Cali World Cup finishes on Saturday, December 18.
Results
Women's team sprint
1. Great Britain (Varnish, Pendleton) 33.322
2. Germany (Welte, Vogel) 33.625
3. France (Clair, Cueff) 33.756
4. Spain (Casas, Calvo) 34.602
Men's team sprint
1. France (Bauge, Sireau, D'Almeida) 43.539
2. Great Britain (Hoy, Crampton, Kenny) 43.830
3. New Zealand (Mitchel, Webster, Dawkins) 44.118
4. Poland (Bielecki, Zielinski, Kuczynski) 45.117
Women's team pursuit
1. New Zealand (Buchanan, Ellis, Shanks) 3-22.202
2. Ouch USA (Hammer, Bausch, Tamayo) 3-25.222
3. Great Britain(Trott, Colclough, Houvenaghel) 3-23.789
4. Germany (Becker, Brennauer, Sandig) 3-26.262
Men's omnium standings after three rounds
1. Juan Arango (Colombia) 13 points
2. Ed Clancy (Great Britain) 16 points
3. Erik Mohs (Germany) 23 points
4. Zachary Bell (Canada) 23 points
5. Jan Dostal (Czech Republic) 25 points
Men's scratch race
1. Morgan Kneisky (France)
2. Gijs Van Hoecke (Belgium)
3. Martin Blaha (Czech Republic)
4. Marco Arriagada (Chile)
5. Sebastian Mora (Spain)
Related links
British women aim for Cali World Cup
International track cycling results 2010-2011
CW's Dummies' Guide to Track Racing
Australia dominate final day of Melbourne World Cup
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