Great Britain recorded a best major women’s team sprint result in 11 years with silver at the UCI Cycling World Championships before Will Tidball ended the day with scratch race gold in Glasgow.
Lauren Bell, Sophie Capewell and Emma Finucane recorded a time fast enough to break the world record at the Sir Chris Hoy velodrome but Germany went even faster to take gold in a time of 45.848 seconds.
Bell described it as a “bittersweet” result as they settled for silver, but even so it is another big marker after Britain failed to qualify for the team sprint at either of the last two Olympics.
Silver is Britain’s best result at this level since Victoria Pendleton and Jess Varnish finished runners up in 2011, having been beaten by an Australian team including outgoing Great Britain coach Kaarle McCulloch.
“We pushed them all the way,” said Capewell. “We can take a bit of credit for that world record I think. It’s a little bit disappointing but our goal is next year and this is a stepping stone.
“If you look at how far we’ve come, we’ve knocked over half a second off our time last year and none of us executed it perfectly so there is more to come.”
It was a rollercoaster day for Britain in the velodrome, with their defence of the men’s team pursuit title ending a qualifying crash for Charlie Tanfield in the morning, but Tidball ended it in golden fashion with a surprise win in the scratch race.
The 23-year-old, making his World Championship debut and competing in his only race of the week, kept himself hidden for much of the 60-lap race before coming around Dutch rider Roy Eefting-Bloem with half a lap to go.
“I didn’t have expectations,” Tidball said. “I didn’t really dream of coming away with a medal. I wanted to put it all on the line to win it. With a scratch race, that’s how you’re going to win. You can’t win it with a half-hearted attack. We went all-in and it paid off.”
If there was a complaint from the riders, it was that the medal ceremonies did not take place in the velodrome itself, but over in a side room away from the crowds.
“That’s the one thing that is missing,” Tidball said. “They should have put that here. It’s probably the most important thing to have in a track centre. Maybe I should win another time.”
But while Tidball could celebrate, it was a bad day for his men’s endurance team-mates as Tanfield crashed 40 metres from the line in team pursuit qualifying. With Britain already down to three riders at the time, they failed to set an official time and went out of the competition.
Britain had been on course for the second fastest qualifying time behind Denmark and a ticket to the medal rounds prior to the incident but Tanfield, a late call-up to the squad to replace the injured Ethan Hayter, began to lose the wheel of Dan Bigham and Ethan Vernon in the final laps.
As he pushed to keep up, Tanfield dipped his front wheel on to the blue band at the bottom of the track and lost control. The 26-year-old, part of the GB squad who won the world title in 2018, was taken to hospital and was diagnosed with a concussion.
Neah Evans missed out on bronze in the women’s individual pursuit, beaten by New Zealand’s Bryony Botha as American Chloe Dygert took gold.
There was success for Britain’s para-cyclists. Sophie Unwin and Jenny Holl took gold in the women’s B kilo time trial, with Lizzi Jordan piloted by Amy Cole claiming bronze in the same event.
Steve Bate and Chris Latham took bronze in the men’s B individual pursuit.
Earlier in the day, Jody Cundy became the second British para-cyclist to set a new world record at these Championships as he clocked a time of 10.427 seconds in the men’s C4 omnium flying 200 metres.
Daley and Glover confirmed as Team GB flagbearers at Paris Olympics
Tom Daley and Helen Glover have been confirmed as Team GB's flagbearers for Friday's opening ceremony at the Paris Olympics.
Daley is set to become the first British diver to compete in five Games, having come out of retirement to compete in Tokyo three years ago.
The four-time Olympic medallist is the defending champion in the men’s 10-metre synchronised diving event and will defend his title alongside team-mate Noah Williams.
Glover won the coxless pairs gold in both London and Rio and has come out of retirement at 38 to compete in her fourth Olympic Games.
“My dad would not have ever believed I would be a flag bearer one day,” Daley said.
“He always considered flag bearers to be Olympic icons and legends. I think he would be so incredibly proud of me being a flag bearer of Team GB.”
An Olympian at the age of 14 in Beijing, Daley won gold alongside Matty Lee in Tokyo to add to three bronze medals he has achieved in individual and synchronised 10-metre events.
“This Olympics is something I would consider to be a bonus Olympics," said Daley.
"This Olympics has been about enjoying it, embracing every moment and taking everything in as much as I can. To be flagbearer too is just the icing on the cake."
Glover will compete in Paris as part of the women’s four.
She became the first mother to row for Great Britain at the Olympics when she finished fourth alongside Polly Swann in the women's pairs in Tokyo four years ago.
“I just love the Olympics and have always loved what it stood for. But I still pinch myself that I am an Olympian, let alone doing something that I just saw as going down in history.
“To be flag bearer for a nation, it’s an honour. You can work hard to become an Olympian but this is bestowed upon me by somebody else who has seen that hard work. That just means so much.”
Muir lauds 'inspirational' Murray ahead of Olympics swansong
Olympic silver medallist Laura Muir described fellow Team GB member Andy Murray as "inspirational" ahead of the Paris Games.
Muir, who came second in the 1,500m in Tokyo three years ago, will again compete this year in the hopes of sealing a first gold medal in Paris.
Three-time grand slam winner Murray has confirmed he will retire from tennis after the Games, having previously won gold on two occasions.
The Scot's first Games appearance was in Beijing in 2008, losing in straight sets to Lu Yen-hsun in the first round.
Four years later, Murray triumphed on home soil by beating Roger Federer at London 2012, beating the Swiss in straight sets in the final.
The Briton became the first male tennis player to win two Olympic singles titles when he beat Argentina's Juan Martin del Potro at Rio 2016.
Murray withdrew from the singles event at the most recent grand slam at Wimbledon, competing in the doubles alongside brother Jamie but going out in the first round.
Dan Evans will partner Murray in the doubles in Paris, with Muir praising the Scot's influence both on and off the court across his 19-year professional career.
"I think it's just he's been at the top for so long, and it's just been so nice to see him progress through everything," Muir told Stats Perform.
"He's had so many hard times and he's come back and he's fought so hard and he's been so patient and such a big sportsmanship person at the same time.
"I think he's just hugely inspirational, not just in the sport of tennis but through Scottish sports and also lots of other sports on the team as well.
"Just to see someone fight for so long and do so well, it's been so nice to see.
"So it'll be such a shame that we won't see more of him to come, but it's just so nice to be able to finish it with the Olympics - he's hugely inspirational person both on and off the court."
Fellow 1,500m hopeful Jake Wightman, who finished 10th at the Tokyo games, echoed Muir's words on Murray's glittering career.
"I think probably him winning Wimbledon for the first time is like a iconic moment within my sporting history, just because I'd watched Wimbledon most years and never seen a Brit perform anywhere near that level," Wightman told Stats Perform.
"You'd obviously had Tim Henman going to a certain point, but it had been an era of just watching [Rafael] Nadal and Federer for a long time battling it out.
"So to see somebody in Britain, a British athlete, being able to go and do that was, I think, something that we may not see for a long time."
Pogacar girlfriend's snub 'certainly didn't help' as Tour de France champion skips Olympics
Tadej Pogacar has acknowledged girlfriend Urska Zigart's Olympics snub contributed to his decision to withdraw from Paris 2024.
The three-time Tour de France champion had been scheduled to take part in the men's road race at the Games on August 3, but it was announced on Monday he would not take part.
While Slovenia's Olympic cycling coach Uros Murn attributed Pogacar's absence to "extreme fatigue" after claiming his latest Tour title last week, the UAE Team Emirates superstar was back in action the following day at a criterium race in Surhuisterveen.
Questioned about his Paris decision by Dutch broadcaster NOS, Pogacar revealed his frustration at Zigart missing out on a place in the Slovenian squad.
"It's not the main reason, but it certainly didn't help," he said. "I think she deserves her place. She's a two-time national champion in the road race and time trial."
Urska Pintar and Eugenia Bujak were preferred to Zigart for the women's road race. Zigart won the national title in that event ahead of Pintar last month.
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