Track Cycling World Championships: GB win silver in men's team sprint race
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World Track Cycling Championships: GB win silver as Netherlands a set a new world record
UCI Track Cycling World Championships |
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Venue: Berlin Velodrome, Germany. Dates: 26 February-1 March. |
Coverage: Live on BBC Two, BBC Four, BBC Red Button, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app and through Connected TVs. |
Jason Kenny, Jack Carlin and Ryan Owens won Great Britain's first medal of the Track Cycling World Championships in Berlin with silver in the men's team sprint.
GB, the current Olympic champions, were beaten to gold by the Netherlands, who lowered their own world record to 41.225 seconds after breaking it in the previous round.
The Netherlands have now three successive world titles in the event, with Australia winning bronze in the German capital.
Earlier, Laura Kenny finished fourth in the scratch race, a month after breaking her shoulder.
The 27-year-old four-time Olympic champion was edged out on the line as the Netherlands' Kirsten Wild won gold.
Jennifer Valente of the United States and Portugal's Maria Martins took silver and bronze respectively.
"It was one of those races and it's such a lottery - it's hard to not be disappointed," Kenny told BBC Four.
"I should've let Kirsten go a bit and if I had some space I would've had something to run into. I was going full gas and fourth is the worst place you can finish.
"I wanted to come regardless of my form and I'm quite pleased to be here, but I wish I had done better in that race.
"I feel alright, that's why it's frustrating. It's just a tactical error and one of those things you can change. My legs felt good but my tactics were just not that good.
"My shoulder is still broken but when I'm on the bike I can't feel it at all."
World Track Cycling Championships: Laura Kenny misses out on medal in women's scratch race
Kenny suffered the injury in a crash during the tempo race at the World Cup in Milton, Canada in January.
She previously told BBC Sport how she chose not to have an operation - against a surgeon's advice - in order to continue her Tokyo 2020 preparations.
She will compete in the team pursuit on Thursday in Berlin, but not in the Madison.
The scratch race - in which Kenny won world gold in 2016 - is not an Olympic event.
GB men fail to make team pursuit finals
In the men's team pursuit, GB - the Olympic champions in the event at the last three Games - missed out on the medal finals despite beating Germany in the first round.
Ed Clancy, Ethan Hayter, Charlie Tanfield and Ollie Wood had earlier finished seventh in qualifying with a time of 3:50.341 - just over the then-world record GB set to win gold at Rio 2016.
Denmark will face New Zealand in the gold medal final after twice breaking the world record, while Italy will take on Australia for bronze.
Clancy had previously told BBC Sport the championships "could be tricky" for GB but reaffirmed on Tuesday that "the best is still to come".
"There's a part of me that knows we're going to do better in Tokyo and our best is still to come," the 34-year-old told BBC TV.
"It's never nice putting on a Great Britain jersey and only getting sixth or fifth, but nothing changes. The dream is still to win in Tokyo and we have the right riders. We're going to eat, sleep and commit to a training programme with one race in mind in August.
"We can only focus on ourselves. I've ridden with Geraint Thomas and Bradley Wiggins and I believe we have guys in our current line-up that are doing similar things."
Great Britain missed out on a medal in the men's team pursuit
Clancy is a three-time Olympic team pursuit champion with Tokyo set to be his final Games before retirement, yet despite facing an uphill climb, he remains optimistic about the team's chances come the summer.
"Winning an Olympic gold medal is not going to be easy," he said.
"Doing it once is hard, two times, three times and for the British cycling team in the team pursuit to go for a fourth time running is going to be a very difficult thing, there's no doubt about that - it's been made clear for us today, but I still think we're in with a shout [in Tokyo]."
Earlier in the day, the British quartet of Elinor Barker, Katie Archibald, Ellie Dickinson and Neah Evans qualified second fastest in the women's team pursuit.
GB - the reigning Olympic champions in the event - clocked 4:11.871 with the United States finishing top of qualifying ahead of Thursday's first round, when they will face Canada.