Track Cycling World Championships: Great Britain win three bronze medals on opening day

Great Britain won three bronze medals on the opening day of the Track Cycling World Championships in France.

Welsh rider Jess Roberts secured individual bronze in the women's 10km scratch race on her championships debut and dedicated the achievement to her late grandfather.

"I'm really happy with that because my grandad passed away on Saturday," an emotional Roberts told BBC Sport.

GB's men's and women's team sprint riders also claimed bronze.

Lauren Bell, Sophie Capewell, Emma Finucane narrowly beat the Netherlands in the three-lap women's race, with Finucane crossing the line just 0.008 seconds ahead of her Dutch opponent.

Germany took gold by defeating China with a new world record time of 45.967 seconds - the second time they had broken the world record in the same night.

The men's third-placed final was equally as tight, with Jack Carlin, Ali Fielding and Hamish Turnbull finishing a tenth of a second better off than Germany.

"I think we are over the moon with how far we have come," said Fielding. "We've only been riding as this kind of team for around six weeks, so to pull that time out of the bag, we're in a very good place."

Australia became men's world champions following an exciting victory over the Netherlands.

Roberts put in a gutsy performance in the closing stages to finish on the podium alongside second-placed Dutch rider Maike van der Duin and Italy's Martina Fidanza, who retained her world title.

"[My grandfather] took me around everywhere in my youth, around races. This is a race for him. I just had him on my shoulder to the finish line and just though push all the way," said Roberts.

The 23-year-old won scratch sliver at the European Track Championships in August and said that was a much-needed boost after a difficult time in her life.

She added: "The last two years have been really tough for me. I took time off last year, nearly five months off the bike due to injury and mental health.

"But this year I have been building and it's just so nice to be back on a podium again. I nearly quit the sport last year, so I'm just really proud of myself for keeping going and hopefully I can progress from here and get stronger next year."

Great Britain also made a strong start in the men's and women's team pursuit events.

World omnium champion Ethan Hayter, Dan Bigham, Ethan Vernon and Ollie Wood will face Italy in the gold medal race on Thursday after topping their qualifier and then sealing victory against New Zealand in the first round.

In the women's event, GB qualified in second place before Thursday's first round and final, as Italy set the fastest time.

The Italian riders were two seconds quicker than the British quartet of Tokyo 2020 silver medallist Neah Evans, Katie Archibald, Megan Barker and Josie Knight.

Double Olympic champion Archibald is returning to competition after injury and following the death of her partner Rab Wardell at the age of 37 in August.

Day two of the championships on Thursday will be available to watch on the BBC Red Button, BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport website from 17:20 BST.