Victoria Pendleton grabs gold but UCI put brakes on GB kit

• Pendleton overhauls China's Shuang Guo for fourth sprint gold
• Lizzie Armitstead wins silver in the omnium
Cycling - Track Cycling World Championships - Day Four - Ballerup Super Arena
Great Britain's Victoria Pendleton celebrates after grabbing gold and glory in the women's sprint. Illustration: Tim Ireland/PA

Sir Chris Hoy and other leading figures in the Great Britain track cycling team have always been at pains to make it clear that the road to London will not be smooth. That was underlined at the world championships even though Victoria Pendleton rode to her fourth successive gold in the women's sprint while Lizzie Armitstead took silver in a new event on the Olympic schedule, the omnium.

A turbulent few days for the Beijing triple gold medallist Hoy ended with an early exit in the match sprint while more troublingly, perhaps, the International Cycling Union said they were likely to ban Great Britain from using their aerodynamic kit. That should not distract attention from Pendleton's achievement, however, as this was her fifth world sprint title in six years, during which she has taken Olympic gold.

She can now boast eight world titles, one more than the legendary Beryl Burton, so she can lay claim to being Britain's greatest woman cyclist.

The Bedfordshire woman overcame a fall in the opening lap of the second match of the final against China's Shuang Guo, when she lost control and somersaulted down the banking on the opening lap while travelling at just over walking pace. "It was a silly mistake," she said. "The track was a bit dusty and if it's steep and you turn your wheel a bit it's easy to lose your grip. But sometimes having a little crash gives you an adrenaline spike, so maybe it helped in the end."

That was the only glitch throughout a series in which her dominance was summed up by the semi-final against her old adversary Anna Meares, the burly Australian she beat in Beijing last year, who succumbed in two rides. Pendleton has a chance to add a ninth world title today, when she contests the keirin motorpaced sprint.

Hoy's campaign was decided by a tyre's width in the third match of the quarter-final against the defending champion, Grégory Baugé of France. Hoy had taken the first match in straightforward style, but in the second Baugé forced him to a standstill on the back straight. The Frenchman moved first, but Hoy then took the lead and was overtaken by half a wheel in the finish straight to set up the decider.

"You can make lots of excuses, but you have to be master of your own destiny and I made a basic error," said the triple Beijing gold medallist. "If you switch off for a single second you are vulnerable and I paid dearly."

Earlier, Hoy had fallen victim to an enterprising piece of German skulduggery in what should have been a simple second-round match against Robert Forsterman. The German received a hefty push from his assistant at the start – which is within the rules, if frowned upon – which enabled him to attack from the off, catching the Olympic champion napping and opening a 10-length lead.

The Scot came back strongly, but could get only as far as the German's side. He then had to get back into the competition through the repechage round, a three-man sprint, which clearly took its physical toll.

The other event on the day's programme was the women's omnium, a multi-event discipline which has taken on new significance now it is in the Olympic programme although, confusingly, the precise Olympic format is unclear. Yesterday the event consisted of five separate short races mixing sprint and endurance disciplines, and Armitstead rode strongly in the points and scratch races to be in contention for the gold medal going into the final event, the 500m time trial. There she fell short, but she still took her second silver of the series and may contest the points race today.

The confusion over the omnium format reflects the unstable state of a sport which now has to contend with the prospect of the International Cycling Union banning kit as and when they decide, with the main criterion being whether it is "in the market place at a realistic price". The principle is that technology should be available to all, but the UCI president Pat McQuaid was unclear what the terms meant in reality, although his press officer Enrico Carpani suggested €10,000 (£9,000). The fact that Carpani's was merely a figure plucked out of the air is in itself an adequate reflection of where the UCI stands. What is clear is that the three leading track nations, Great Britain, Australia and Germany, are being targeted.

"We'll make it work, as we always do," said the Great Britain performance director Dave Brailsford. "We've always kept within UCI rules. For nine years we've kept within UCI regulations and the regulations haven't changed. It's different enforcement and interpretation of the rules. What is a 'reasonable price' compared to the amount you put in research and development? We've put a million or a million-and-a-half into R and D and made 26 bikes, so you can do the sums for yourself."

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