Brit pursuit teams shine at Velodrome’s wall of noise
BRITAIN’S pursuit teams progressed safely to the final at the Track Cycling World Cup as the Olympic Velodrome was given a noisy competitive baptism last night.
Wendy Houvenaghel, Laura Trott and Joanna Rowsell will bid for gold today after qualifying second fastest behind Canada in the heats.
Their time of three minutes, 21.370 seconds was around six tenths of a second slower than their in-form rivals but enough to beat Australia, Holland, the United States and New Zealand.
Britain’s men – Ed Clancy, Geraint Thomas, Steve Burke and Pete Kennaugh – must wait until Sunday for their showdown with Australia.
The home side were again second in a field that also included New Zealand and Belgium, although Australia will be favourites for the gold medal after clocking a time more than half a second faster.
Clancy admitted to being shocked by the sonic effect generated by the 6,000-string sell-out crowd crammed into the eye-catching Velodrome for its debut. “Riding here will take some getting used to because the crowd are so loud,” he said.
“Normally we only get that kind of support at the start and finish. For a qualifying race it was just bizarre, it was mental, it was just a wall of noise all the way around.”
The final leg of the World Cup concludes on Sunday, with British stars such as Victoria Pendleton and Sir Chris Hoy in action over the weekend in the Olympic test event.
Hoy will face off with fellow Briton and world champion Jason Kenny in Sunday’s individual sprint, as they vie for the one Team GB spot for that event at the Games.