Cycling: Australia reclaim team pursuit title

BORDEAUX, France - Australia beat defending champions Britain in a thrilling final to reclaim the men's team pursuit gold medal at the world track cycling championships today.

Australia, world champions in men's team pursuit from 2002 to 2004, avenged their loss to Britain in Los Angeles last year and at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne last month.

The Australian quartet of Matthew Goss, Mark Jamieson, Peter Dawson and Stephen Wooldridge outpaced the British team of Stephen Cummings, Robert Hayles, Paul Manning and Geraint Thomas by 0.036 seconds.

Australia rode the 4000m race in four minutes 01.491 seconds at the average speed of 59.629km/h.

Ukraine beat the Netherlands in the race for the bronze medal.

The Ukraine had narrowly deprived New Zealand of fourth place in qualifying, going through to the medal round after posting a time of 4min 07.165sec.

The New Zealand quartet of Sam Bewley, Hayden Godfrey, Tim Gudsell and Marc Ryan finished a creditable fifth in a time of 4min 07.530sec.

Godfrey also finished 11th in the men's scratch race, an event won by Frenchman Jerome Neuville, winner of the madison world gold medal in 2001 and 2002, who survived a late challenge from Argentine Angel Colla on the line.

Ioannis Tamouridis, of Greece, won the bronze.

In the women's sprint, Natalia Tsylinskaya, of Belarus, beat holder and Commonwealth champion Victoria Pendleton, of Britain, in two successive heats.

Local hope Jerome Neuville won the scratch men's event in a photo finish after being roared on by the crowd at the Bordeaux Lac Velodrome.

Tsylinskaya, who won the 500m time trial on Friday (NZ time), took the opening heat of the women's sprint final after bursting to the lead on the bell.

The second heat was a more tactical race but the Belarussian was again the stronger rider.

Shuang Guo, of China, outpaced Clara Sanchez in the race for the bronze.

- REUTERS