Day three of the UCI Track World Cup has provided another medal haul for Great Britain.
Sir Chris Hoy and Joanna Rowsell won the gold medal in the men’s keirin and the women’s individual pursuit, while Victoria Pendleton won bronze in the women’s sprint.
Hoy showed a dramatic turn of pace on the final lap to come from fourth to first, finishing ahead of the German, Rene Enders, and the French rider, Mickaël Bourgain.
Speaking afterwards, a delighted Hoy told the BBC he thought he had left his run too late.
“It’s made it pretty hard for myself. I sat behind Bourgain because I knew he was going well today. I was confident he was going to close the gap and I would go round him but I left it pretty late. With half a lap to go, I wasn’t sure I was going to make it,” he said.
The Scotsman deployed a similar tactic in his qualifying heat this morning, but showed the same impeccable timing to clinch victory.
Hoy praised the crowd for their support, adding that it put other nations “on the defensive”.
“The noise the crowd makes is amazing. This is a World Cup, which is a big event, but not a massive event, but the support we get from this crowd makes it feel like a world championships or an Olympics,” Hoy told the BBC.
“The sports scientists I’ve got here told me I hit 78.1km an hour, which is the fastest I’ve ever gone in the keirin,” he added.
Joanna Rowsell, a member of the Great Britain team that won gold in the women’s team pursuit with a new world record yesterday, won the individual pursuit today.
Rowsell should immense determination to hold off the more experienced New Zealander, Alison Shanks, leading from the front, and extended her lead on each of the final three laps.
She told the BBC: “I was quite surprised at fastest qualifier. In the final, I thought I would go out fast and get my nose in front and hold on. It came off.”
Rowsell said watching Hoy’s victory in the keirin had inspired her, and paid tribute to the mutual support among Great Britain’s team members.
“It’s such a good team spirit. Everyone is really helping out each other. It’s a really tight unit,” she said.
Earlier, Victoria Pendleton won the bronze medal in the women’s sprint, beating Lee Wai-sze in the ‘b’ final to record a time of 11.556. Lee passed Pendleton as she looked behind her, but the reigning Olympic champion has the speed to catch her opponent and pass her on the line.
Pendleton had to race for bronze after losing to her Australian arch rival, Anna Mears, in the semi-final. Mears seemed to catch Pendleton unawares; a mistake Pendleton repeated but overcame in the ‘b’ final.
Mears was forced to settle for silver after losing out twice in the women’s sprint final to the Chinese rider, Guo Shuang.
Ben Swift finished sixth in the men’s Omnium. Laura Trott will compete later in the women’s omnium. Check back for result.
