WORLD TRACK CYCLING CHAMPIONSHIPS
Venue:
Pruszkow, Poland
Dates:
25-29 March
Coverage:
Live on BBC Two and BBC Sport website 1900-2000 GMT, Live on Red Button and BBC Sport website 2000-2045, Highlights on BBC Two and BBC Sport website 2320-0000
 Houvenaghel, Rowsell and Armitstead defended the team pursuit title
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Great Britain secured their first gold of the World Championships, defending their women's team sprint title.
Wendy Houvenaghel, Joanna Rowsell and Lizzie Armitstead beat New Zealand by 1.273 seconds in a time of 3 minutes 22.720 sec in the final.
GB sprint duo Victoria Pendleton and Shanaze Reade had to settle for silver after Australia set a world record.
But Ross Edgar and Matt Crampton missed out on keirin medals, as did Mark Cavendish in the scratch race.
Olympic silver medallist Edgar finished fourth and Crampton fifth as German Maximilian Levy succeeded the injured Sir Chris Hoy as world champion.
Both men had to go through the extra repechage round - where team-mate Jason Kenny was eliminated - but Edgar said that was no excuse.
"I felt really good for the final. I'm just really disappointed I didn't get involved in the race," he admitted.
"I should have gone a bit earlier. I just waited too long and you can't wait in the keirin when the speeds are high."
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I had absolute belief we were going to win this event because I know how strong we all are
Wendy Houvenaghel
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Crampton attempted to follow Hoy's usual tactic of taking the lead early but did not have the legs to hold off Levy.
"I was sixth in line so had to go hard early. I was a tough job and it didn't really work out," he said.
However, Great Britain's women had already made sure of taking top spot on the podium at least once on day two in Pruszkow.
Houvenaghel, who suffered defeat in the individual final on Wednesday, said she never doubted the team would win.
"I had absolute belief we were going to win this event because I know how strong we all are. We've been working together for six months," she told BBC Sport.
Armitstead took the first of what could be three medals in her first World Championships and said: "There's quite a lot of British support out here, which made it even more special."
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I did the best possible ride I could do on the day so I'm really happy
Shanaze Reade
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Pendleton and Reade, who have won the team sprint title for the last two years, knew they had a tough task on their hands after they were second in qualifying.
And Aussie duo Anna Meares and Kaarle McCulloch stepped up a level in the final as they blazed home in 33.149 seconds, with the Brits 0.231 sec behind.
"We knew we had to find a tenth [of a second] and we did but the Australians went faster," said Pendleton, who took time trial bronze on Wednesday and begins her individual sprint campaign on Friday.
Reade, in her first high-profile event since crashing out of the Olympic BMX final, had only four weeks' practice on the velodrome behind her.
"I did the best possible ride I could do on the day so I'm really happy," she told BBC Sport.
Cavendish missed out on an Olympic medal in Beijing and was a surprise inclusion in the GB squad as he has been concentrating on road racing.
He started strongly, and later fought back to close to within half a lap of a breakaway group of six, from which Morgan Kneisky of France emerged victorious.
Cavendish, who finished seventh, gets another shot at gold in the madison on Saturday.
Great Britain chose not to compete in the individual pursuit, where the absent Bradley Wiggins was the reigning champion.
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606: DEBATE
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American Taylor Phinney beat Aussie Jack Bobridge in the final, while Ireland's David O'Loughlin finished a disappointing 15th in qualifying.
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