German officers the team to beat

Cyclists by day, police officers by night – German sprint queens Kristina Vogel and Miriam Welte lead an almost superhero-like life, except their lycra is not for crime fighting.

Having stunned the likes of Great Britain and China to take world and Olympic gold, the German sprinting stars continued their fine form in Manchester.

Becky James and Vicky Williamson led the British charge, putting in another encouraging performance as they build towards the world championships and 2016 Olympics.

James’ second lap in the qualifying round in particular, highlighted her phenomenal speed at the age of just 21.

But Vogel and Welte went even better – the former registering a second lap of 13.852 seconds, the only sub-14” time of the competition to take gold.

If James, Williamson or any of their sprinting rivals want gold at next year’s World Championship, they will have to produce a serious step-up to see off the German duo.