• Track World Cup

Hoy wins men's sprint for second gold at Velodrome

Sir Chris Hoy laid down a marker for the London 2012 Olympics with victory in the men's sprint on Sunday © PA Photos

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Sir Chris Hoy made it two gold medals in as many days at the Track World Cup by winning the men's sprint on Sunday.

Hoy defeated Germany's Maximilian Levy in the final, taking a comfortable 2-0 victory that cements his desire to take on sprint duties for Team GB at the London 2012 Games. The powerful Scot finishes the weekend with gold medals in the sprint and the keirin, as well as a bronze in the team sprint.

The new Olympic ruling that allows just one entrant per country in each event at this year's Games has put intense pressure on Hoy and compatriot Jason Kenny, two of the best in the world but only one of whom will sprint for Team GB in London. Hoy's performance means he now appears to be in pole position to get the nod for London, after Kenny could only finish fifth at the Velodrome.

Across the four rounds Hoy lost just one race, against France's six-time world champion Gregory Bauge in the quarter-finals.

"I had a tough day out there," Hoy told BBC Sport. "I felt it in my legs this morning. I'm really pleased - more than the actual result is the way I rode. I've been making mistakes in the sprint recently but I only made one today. I see this as an important step for the Olympics."

In the men's team pursuit, Great Britain were forced to settle for silver after being pipped by arch-rivals Australia in the eagerly-anticipated showdown.

Ed Clancy, Geraint Thomas, Steven Burke and Peter Kennaugh put on a strong showing but were still no match for their opponents - with the Australian unit of Jack Bobridge, Rohan Dennis, Alex Edmondson and Michael Hepburn setting the second fastest time in history on the way to victory in three minutes 54.615.

Britain - who own the world record - eventually stopped the clock at 3min 56.330s.

There was more disappointment for Victoria Pendleton and Jessica Varnish, both of whom had hoped to medal in the women's keirin. However, only Pendleton made the final, where fifth place was the best she could manage.

"I didn't expect to squeeze through that gap, it was a bit naive on my account," said Pendleton, who got trapped during the event. "I really haven't got anything left in the legs. I didn't want to lead out as many of the heats as I had to.

"It's been a positive learning experience. That's what we set out for it to be. I didn't want to put high expectations on myself; mind you it's nice to win but it's not easy to deal with when you're not in peak condition. Next time I come back here, hopefully I'll be in much better shape and show them how it's done."

Elsewhere, Laura Trott produced a fine performance to claim bronze in the six-discipline women's omnium. "I'm really pleased," said Trott. "I was a bit disappointed yesterday with the points race because that let my overall [score] down, but there's still time to work on it so I'm happy with the bronze.

"We are going to do some work on the points race because that's the difference between winning and losing."

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