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British team continues track dominance at World Cup

Published: Oct. 31, 2008

Great Britain's track cyclists scored gold in five World Cup events at the Manchester Velodrome on Friday night in their first action since the team’s domination of events at the Beijing Olympics.

Performance director Dave Brailsford said it was time to concentrate less on Britain's exploits in China, where the team won seven of 10 events in the velodrome, and to look towards the London Olympics in 2012.

And his team was in a confident mood as a mixture of familiar faces and new names took top step on the podium as the Manchester leg of the World Cup series kicked off.

Victoria Pendleton, Ed Clancy and Wendy Houvenaghel - all medalists in Beijing - won their events: Pendleton in the sprint, Houvenaghel improved Olympic silver to gold in the pursuit and Clancy, a member of the record-setting four-man pursuit team in Beijing, switched to the individual event claimed gold.

But two riders who did not make the Olympic team - Lizzie Armitstead and David Daniell - were also victorious. Armistead, 19, led an all-British sweep in the points race. In the final event of the evening the 18-year-old Daniell, making his debut for Britain in a World Cup, produced the shock of the day to win gold in the kilometer.

Brailsford was relishing the chance to leave behind open-top bus parades, book signings and meetings with royalty and get back to the day job.

"If you count World Cups and World Championships, we're 24 races away from London," he said. "After this one, it's 23 to go, so we need to get our act together.

"As far as I'm concerned, Beijing's behind us and good riddance. I haven't enjoyed it, personally anyway, since we've been home. And for me, it's not about floats and the Queen and things like that. It's about racing."