By Mike Rowbottom

Kevin_Sireau_beats_Jason_Kenny_Manchester_February_18_2011February 18 - A capacity crowd of 10,000 witnessed some truly world class racing on the first day of action in Manchester as the fourth round of the Track Cycling World Cup began in earnest with four home medals – and unexpected eclipses for some of Britain's Olympic champions.


Jason Kenny defeated British team-mate Sir Chris Hoy in the semi-finals of the men's sprint before coming desperately close to beating France's world record holder Kevin Sireau (pictured).

And in the women's team sprint, British duo Becky James and Jess Varnish beat the two-time world champions Victoria Pendleton and Shanaze Reade by the huge margin of four tenths of a second before finishing fourth in an event where Australia took the gold ahead of China.

The only British gold on the first of three days of competition came courtesy of a great ride in the women's team pursuit as the trio of Jo Rowsell, Wendy Houvenaghel and Paralympian Sarah Storey saw off the threat of New Zealand.

Geraint Thomas had the crowd on its feet during a tense individual pursuit final with Australia's Denis Rohan.

The Welshman looked good halfway through the proceedings but faded during the final laps and narrowly missed out on a gold medal.

The elimination race of the Omnium saw a high calibre field of riders battle it out in a tactical duel which Ben Swift rode expertly, taking silver for the home nation.

Having controlled the rest of the pack for the majority of the race, Swift attacked early with a lap to go and was narrowly beat on the line.

Pendleton and Hoy will be back in action in the women's sprint and keirin events respectively.

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