• Track World Cup

British cyclists smash two world records

ESPN staff
February 17, 2012
Victoria Pendleton and Jessica Varnish beat the Australian pair to gold in the team sprint © Getty Images
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Great Britain's women set the bar high for London 2012 by breaking world records in the team pursuit and the team sprint at the Track World Cup.

First Victoria Pendleton and Jessica Varnish set the fastest-ever time in the team sprint, then Joanna Rowsell, Dani King and Laura Trott repeated the trick in the team pursuit.

At the Olympic Velodrome, Pendleton and Varnish overcame world champions Kaarle McCulloch and Anna Meares of Australia in a time of 32.754 seconds.

Pendleton said to the BBC: "It sends out the message that we are a force to be reckoned with. We tried something new with the gears in the final and we have learned something. It was a risk but now is the time to experiment - before the worlds and the Olympics. The crowd were unbelievable - I was shaking on my bike."

Varnish added: "I can't believe it I need to pinch myself. I didn't think I could go faster, I was feeling fatigued. But hopefully we can repeat this in the Olympics."

The home joy continued when Rowsell, King and Trott conquered the Canadian line-up by clocking three minutes 18.148 seconds.

The GB team of Sir Chris Hoy, Ross Edgar and Jason Kenny beat Australia to win bronze in the men's team sprint, handing Hoy his 50th world medal. "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," Hoy said. "It's a medal, it's not gold, but it's a medal. Bring on the Olympics."

The Olympic competition in the Velodrome will take place from August 2 to 7.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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