If you said to me the preceding WR would be smashed by almost three-quarters of a second, I'd probably laugh.

Yes, Aguascalientes is one of the fastest tracks out there due to altitude, but damn...anyway, the men's team sprint qualifiers are as follows:

Germany 41.871 (!) [NEW WR]
Great Britain 42.339
They will contest the gold medal later.

Australia 42.671
Netherlands 42.995 (France recorded 42.397 but were relegated)
They will contest the bronze medal later.

In the women's team sprint, Russia clocked 32.599. Sub-33 is not quite the milestone that sub-43 is (was) for the men, but it's within 2 tenths of China's 32.422 WR nonetheless.

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China v Australia - 32.586 v 33.052

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Germany v Great Britain - 32.153 [NEW WR] v 32.400

The Germans claim another sprint WR, and GB maintains its place as second fastest nation ever by also beating the aforementioned mark the Chinese set back in the 2012 Olympics (it was an intermediate round though).

The women's team sprint qualifiers are as follows:

Germany 32.153 [NEW WR]
Great Britain 32.400
They will contest the gold medal later.

China 32.586
Russia 32.599
They will contest the bronze medal later.

Britain always ride to a schedule, they don't race, so presumably they will up it a bit for the final.

And good to see both the sprint teams doing well, looks like Germany will be our bogey team in both the men's and women's this Olympic cycle.

Still got a way to go. Back when I started watching 15 or so years ago 4 min 05 sec was about the standard for a world class men's team pursuit and 4:02 would get you a medal.

The omnium flying lap is done, Ed Clancy clocked 12.417 for the lead.

The first session is finished now; the second starts at 1am GMT so I won't be posting updates as the races happen.

So the overnight races went to form - gold and another WR - 4:16:115 3 seconds off the previous mark! - for our team pursuit girls, and 2 golds for Germany in the team sprints, new WR in the men's, not quite so fast in the womens'.

http://www.uci.ch/Modules/ENews/ENew...Q%26LangId%3D1

The Team Pursuit squad in the final was Archibald, Barker, King and Rowsell, so arguably not even our strongest.

Danilo de Luca has been given a lifetime ban after his 3rd doping 'conviction'

If nothing else you've got to admire his 'chutzpah' !

More details from day 1 in Mexico

http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/gbc...ld-Cup-Day-1-0

Nice job. By the way, it's 4:16.552.

In the individual equivalent (3km), Elinor Barker (fastest qualifier with 3:30.009) will race against Rebecca Wiasak for the gold.

The men's sprint is underway - I expect the 9.572 WR (Kevin Sireau, Moscow, 2009) to go. 5 riders done and the fastest so far is already 9.692. There are many riders so I'll wait until everyone has ridden before posting the new WR.

The WR was beaten by FOUR riders!

Francois Pervis is now the fastest, clocking 9.347 (0.225 below the preceding WR) for the flying 200m.

Jason Kenny was the ninth fastest qualifier in 9.640.

Hugo Haak clocked 9.699 and failed to qualify! Matthew Crampton and Lewis Oliva clocked 9.712 and 9.721 respectively.

Click here for the full results.

Now that today's early session is finished...

All but one of the 41 riders in the men's sprint clocked sub-10 in the qualifying round. Even as Olympic Champion, I'm sure Kenny will be chuffed with defeating Pervis 2-0 in the quarter final; he and 3 others (including second-fastest qualifier Matthew Glaetzer) will continue proceedings overnight.

Ed Clancy is currently 8th in the men's omnium; a medal will be out of reach for him, even with the upcoming kilo. Luke Davison has a 4-point lead and looks set to claim overall victory.

I've already mentioned Barker, but it's worth noting she's still only 19 years of age, as is Katie Archibald (both members of the GB team pursuit squad).

Rebecca James will ride in the second round of the women's keirin later, though she had to do the repechage to get there. She may be World Champion, but I reckon Kristina Vogel will win again (as she did in Manchester).

In the women's omnium, World Champion Sarah Hammer leads with 4 points after the flying lap (which she won!) and the points race. Laura Trott is currently third with 10 points...but her favourite event is next.

Action resumes at 1am GMT.

2nd for Kenny in the sprint
Ist for Doull in the scratch
8th for Clancy in the Omnium

8th for Jess Varnish in the 500m TT (Meares broke the WR)
2nd for Ellie Barker in the Pursuit (Irish girl won bronze)
3rd for Becky James in the Keirin
Trotty resumes normal service by winning The Devil (she is 2nd on 11 pts behind Hammer on 8pts)

Just a reminder, tonight's stream starts at 23:30

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KhpwHwWFGI

Looks like they will keep it on YouTube so you can watch on delay on Sunday.

The Aussies had a field day yesterday, not least with Anna Meares now the first sub-33 half-kilo rider, almost a decade becoming the first sub-34 rider (and indeed last half-kilo Olympic champion at the same time). That's her third (or fourth) WR in the event I think.

Good to see Kenny performing much better, but it was a fantastic performance by Glaetzer in the men's sprint.

Women's sprint underway now, fastest so far 10.671 by Miriam Welte. The 10.573 WR from almost 11 months ago in the same velodrome will be beaten, either Vogel or Meares will top the field I think.

So no TV coverage anywhere in the world? Surely if there was there'd be a stream available somewhere on the internet.

Nice one UCI. Sport doesn't really need spectators and if we were that keen we'd have gone over to Mexico wouldn't we.

Vogel and Meares recorded 10.384 [NEW WR] (over 69km/h!) and 10.487 respectively. James and Jessica Varnish both qualified with 10.627 [3rd] and 10.662 [5th].

In this round of the 2013-14 UCI Track World Cup, 6 events have boasted WRs. The men's team sprint, women's team pursuit and women's sprint produced WRs that were beaten again in competition.*

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The last event in which I believe a new WR is distinctly possible [at least 50/50] is the kilo. Unlike most other WRs, this one was set in La Paz, Bolivia - the location of the world's highest velodrome.

Arnaud Tournant recorded 58.875 there 12 years ago, and I believe only Chris Hoy since then has gone under 1 minute; he rode on the same velodrome twice in 2007. Aguascalientes doesn't quite have the same altitude (not often that's said), but with World Champion Pervis contesting the kilo later, that record could still be beaten.

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The women's omnium is back on, with the individual pursuit underway. Hammer will probably win that discipline, not least with several World titles and the WR to her name.

[* Yes, the women's sprint is ongoing, but the fastest flying 200m times are always recorded in the qualifying round, not during match sprints.]

As expected, Hammer was fastest with 3:28.658.

Despite conceding only 3 tenths to her, Trott was third fastest (3:28.955) courtesy of Gillian Carleton riding in 3:28.815. That means Hammer has a 5-point lead with the scratch race and semi-kilo to come.

Just seen the results in heat one of the men's keirin (first round). There must have been a major crash since there are 4 DNFs (!) and a DSQ.

Another heat, another crash - 3 DNFs this time. The schedule has gone to pot.

The other two heats in the keirin took place without any DNFs. However, there were two disqualifications in the second heat of the first round repêchage. Both Oliva (via the repêchage) and Crampton have progressed to the second round.

In the sprint, James was beaten in the quarter-finals by Lee Wai Sze, although Varnish got through. Except for her, the remaining competitors made it to this stage back in Manchester.

As for the omnium, Hammer has all but sealed overall victory by winning the scratch race, putting her 11 points ahead of Jolien D'Hoore and 14 ahead of Trott.

Assuming the last session starts on time (11pm GMT), video coverage will begin 30 minutes in arrears (see post #1714).

2.5secs (4.4%) off the pre-event Kilo WR: cameras missed Pervis crossing the line: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Khpw...hare;t=1h5m15s

Specialized apparently own the name 'Roubaix'. Someone ought to warn the French town: http://blogs.calgaryherald.com/2013/...t-specialized/

Vogel wins another hat-trick in this season's World Cup, capped by what was a comprehensive victory over Meares in the final of the sprint. The way her season is going, she may well do the same in the upcoming World Championships. James certainly has a fight on her hands for both of her rainbow jerseys.

Crampton bagged himself a win in the keirin; 10 non-finishers aside (including Josiah Ng breaking a couple of ribs earlier ), that was a good performance by him. Trott sealed herself a silver in the omnium thanks to her 2nd-place semi-kilo (35.007), but her deficit behind Hammer after 5 events was just too big to close.

As for the kilo...I didn't expect a 56.303 clocking, nor 4 others also beating the old mark, nor Kian Emadi-Coffin clocking 58.933 for sixth...I could go on. [Kilo results]

Having said all that, Chris Hoy predicted a sub-57:
https://twitter.com/chrishoy/status/409013023115055104
https://twitter.com/chrishoy/status/409464092072869888
https://twitter.com/chrishoy/status/409465887209447424

Germany and Australia dominated the meet with 5 golds each and 7 other medals between them; Great Britain won 3 golds and 7 other medals.

This second round of the 2013-14 World Cup was something else - competitors in 5 Olympic events and 2 other events produced world records. At sea-level, most of these records probably won't be beaten for some time, but Guadalajara (third round venue) and Cali (World Championship venue) are both located 900m or so above sea-level so there may be more world records to come this season...at least in the women's team pursuit. As always, time will tell.

New world records
Men's team sprint - 41.871
Women's team sprint - 32.153
Women's team pursuit - 4:16.552
Men's sprint (flying 200m) - 9.347
Women's sprint (flying 200m) - 10.384
Men's 1km time trial - 56.303
Women's 500m time trial - 32.836

[Wiki page]

Engaging podcast discussion with David Walsh: https://audioboo.fm/boos/1783103-david-walsh-special

300 top companies have declined the opportunity to sponsor the Womens Tour of Britain: http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/c...s-8990848.html

As nobody's mentioned it yet, congratulations to Europcar on gaining World Tour status