Team Gb Closes Fast on Olympic Berth in Beijing

Great Britain's cyclists may have missed out on more gold medals in yesterday's final day of racing in the World Cup's second round but a silver for Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish was greeted with a sigh of relief. The pair's two-man madison relay medal in Beijing secured the team crucial Olympic qualifying points after a poor showing in the opening World Cup round in Sydney.

"If they had not scored big last night we would have been really struggling for qualification," said the Great Britain performance director, Dave Brailsford.

The Olympic champion Wiggins has enjoyed a successful start to his World Cup campaign, with victory in the individual pursuit on Friday when, as Brailsford put it, "he just rocked up, not really pursuit-fit at all, with no training, and won it".

Olympic qualification is decided by national rankings after the four World Cups and next March's world championships, and the Beijing round had particular significance as Wiggins and Cavendish may not be able to race the final two World Cups due to their road-racing commitments.

As it was, they were among three teams who gained a lap - the madison is decided by lap gains and points scored in intermediate sprints - and secured their placing in the final scramble for the line.

Their medal brought some consolation after Victoria Pendleton was unlucky to crash out on the final bend in the women's keirin when she looked likely to repeat her Sydney gold medal ride. Pendleton's injuries at least were superficial, a bruised elbow and a badly grazed buttock.

There were no medals in the men's sprint but world-ranking points aplenty as Chris Hoy, Ross Edgar and Craig MacLean finished fifth, sixth and seventh.

"We came here with targets set to gain points for Olympic qualification and we hit all those targets which is very very pleasing," said Brailsford.

"The game plan was to come to these first two World Cups having done our basic conditioning and race, even if we weren't at our best, and get enough points to be in a strong position to qualify."

At the back of his mind is the chance that Team GB may send a reduced squad to the Los Angeles World Cup in late January, as it falls in the middle of a key period of conditioning for the team.

On Saturday, the Athens 1km champion Chris Hoy continued his incredible run in the men's keirin with a second successive gold to take his record to 18 wins out of 18 in international competition in the sprint event, where riders are paced by a small motorbike before the final rush to the line.

"Everyone thought that would be the end of him when they dropped the kilometer from the Olympic program, but he has adapted fantastically and is now the best keirin rider in the world," said Brailsford.

Saturday's other gold came when the men's team pursuit squad surged back after being a second down against New Zealand to repeat their win in Sydney.

But the actual medals are less important than the bigger Olympic picture, and that is looking positive after a week's reconnaissance of the venue and the city - which means Team GB will know precisely what awaits when they return in eight months.

World Cup medal haul

British success so far

GoldTeam pursuit, Beijing and Sydney Bradley Wiggins, Ed Clancy, Steve Cummings, Geraint Thomas, Paul Manning. Men's individual pursuit, Beijing Wiggins. Men's keirin, Beijing and Sydney Chris Hoy. Women's keirin, Sydney Victoria Pendleton

SilverMadison, Beijing Wiggins, Mark Cavendish. Men's points race, Beijing Chris Newton. Women's pursuit, Beijing Rebecca Romero. Women's sprint, Beijing Pendleton

BronzeTeam sprint, Beijing Hoy, Craig MacLean, Jason Queally. Men's sprint, Sydney Hoy