Big day for Aussies at track cycling worlds

Australia dominated the velodrome at the track cycling world championships Saturday in the Netherlands, taking three gold medals and a silver and establishing itself as the team to beat at next year's Olympics in London.

Zach Bell of Watson Lake, Yukon, posted Canada's top result, finishing sixth in the omnium, while defending world champion Tara Whitten of Edmonton is second in the women's omnium after three of six events.

Bell, eighth entering Day 2 of the omnium, was 10th in Saturday's individual pursuit, sixth in the scratch and ninth in the time trial for his sixth-place overall finish.

"It's a bit of a mixed feeling," Bell said. "I think coming here I felt that even if things didn't go my way, I could still have been in the top five. In terms of moving forward and the Olympics, it's about getting the job done. Having two of my worst days of the season and finishing sixth is pretty good."

Whitten began the day with a second-place finish in the flying lap race, then was eighth in the points race and fourth in the elimination race.

"I am pretty happy with how things have gone so far," Whitten said. "The omnium is all about consistency. None of the events were perfect, but I have been near the top in all three."

Australia, meanwhile, has won six of the 15 events so far at the championships and also has two silvers and a bronze to easily top the medal table.

Only local crowd favourite Marianne Vos could halt the gold charge, beating Australian Katherine Bates into second to win the 10-kilometre scratch race.

Australia's dominant day started when Anna Meares won the sprint title, then minutes later Shane Perkins took the keirin crown before Michael Freiberg triumphed in the omnium to complete the golden hat-trick.

"First Anna, then Shane and now this," Freiberg said. "This is a really great day for me. Six months ago I could never have imagined myself here."

Shane Archbold of New Zealand won the time trial to secure silver in the omnium while Gijs van Hoecke of Belgium was third.

Meares won her second gold medal of the championships, beating Simona Krupeckaite of Lithuania in two races to add the individual sprint title to her victory in the team sprint.

The Australian dominated Krupeckaite in the first sprint of the final, leading throughout the final lap and easing up as she crossed the line. She repeated the feat in the second race, raising a fist as she crossed the line well ahead.

Perkins won Australia's second gold of the day by holding off a strong challenge from Olympic champion Chris Hoy to cross the line first in the keirin. Teun Mulder of the Netherlands was third.

"To beat Sir Chris Hoy is fantastic and (it is) my first world championship so I'm absolutely ecstatic," Perkins said.

Perkins looked like he could get boxed in between Hoy and leader Matthew Crampton at the start of the final lap, but he managed to manoeuvre past the British pair before powering home.

"I sort of waited and pushed Chris out … into the wind which gave me a run out to Matt Crampton and with 200 metres to go I just gave everything I could," Perkins said.

Meares knocked out world and Olympic sprint champion Victoria Pendleton over three races in the semifinal and Krupeckaite overcame 500-metre time trial champion Olga Panarina to reach the final.

"Finally after 10 years as a senior rider I'm the world sprint queen, which is a great feeling," Meares said.

Pendleton beat Panarina in two races to take the bronze medal.

Meares said beating multiple world sprint champion Pendleton in the semifinals was almost like winning the gold.

"I looked at that race as if it was my final," Meares said.

But she still had to get past Krupeckaite for her first sprint title, including muscling past the Lithuanian in the second race.

"I just had to make my own path and unfortunately she was in the way," Meares said. "I just had to use the elbow to move her a little bit and then it was just go for broke."

Vos finally gave the partisan Dutch crowd at the Omnisport velodrome something to cheer about by winning the mass-start scratch race for the first Dutch title of the championships.

"You can only dream about a race like that," Vos said. "In my home country with the crowd cheering me on, I wanted to put on a show and it's great if you can finish with a world title."