The men’s team pursuit squad claimed a spectacular silver medal, before the women’s team secured a brilliant bronze in another fantastic night of racing at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Velodrome.

Men’s team pursuit

The British team came into the gold medal ride off as the second quickest nation, with Ethan Vernon, Ethan Hayter, Charlie Tanfield, Dan Bigham and Ollie Wood breaking the British record in their previous two rides.

The squad of Vernon, Hayter, Tanfield and Bigham lined up for the gold medal final against Australia, who broke the world record in yesterday’s first round.

A strong start saw Team GB up in the first 500m, but Australia settled in and edged ahead. It was a tense tussle in the opening two kilometres, with just 0.007 seconds separating them at the 1.5km mark. As Vernon dropped off, the two teams continued to fight, with Australia holding a slight advantage. 

The final 500m split the two teams by just one tenth of a second, with the British squad continuing to close the gap. As the three riders fanned out coming round the final bend, Hayter slipped forward off his saddle due to his momentous effort, leaving him to swing up the track and work hard to bring it back across the line. The British squad crossed the line in a time of 3:44.394 to take the silver and the 1,000th medal achieved by Team GB.

With contributions from all five riders, Vernon, Hayter, Tanfield, Bigham and Wood all took to the podium for their silver medals.

Hayter said:

“We were so close. The five laps at the end [that I led], I just gave too much. My whole body went weak, and I just couldn’t hold myself up on the bike anymore. I don’t know how I stayed up, and I’m sorry to these guys. We gave it everything and I think we can be proud of that silver. We’re super happy to win a silver and it was really there for the taking for us today. We knew that and went out to get it and just came short really so it’s a shame.”

Bigham added:

“We rode the fastest rides we’ve ever done. In every single ride, we’ve been in the best form and the best kit, and we gave it everything there in that last ride. It was scrappy because you’re on the limit and riding quicker than we’ve ever ridden before. [My son] is just learning to stand up and he was looking over the barrier so that was really nice!”

Women’s team pursuit

Having qualified in third place yesterday, the British quartet of Anna Morris, Elinor Barker, Jess Roberts and Josie Knight lined up against the USA in their first round heat. 

The British riders were the quickest off the mark in the opening first lap, before the USA tussled it back inside the first kilometre. The Americans continued to pull away and were three tenths up at the halfway mark. Going down to three riders, the Brits started to pull it back with just one tenth between them in the final kilometre. The final four laps saw the Brits start to close on the Americans but finished two tenths off the USA in a national record time of 4:04.908, putting them into the bronze medal final against Italy.

A strong start from Italy saw Great Britain two tenths of a second down in the opening 500m. The British squad continued to chase, and were still one second behind the Italians at the halfway point. In the final kilometre, the British women continued to close the gap, getting quicker with each lap and reclaimed the lead with two laps remaining. Crossing the line in a time of 4:06.382, the British squad took a fantastic bronze medal, two and a half seconds ahead of Italy.

Knight said:

“I couldn’t be more proud of these girls. Six weeks ago, when Katie [Archibald] broke her ankle, I felt like my Olympic dream had gone down the drain a little bit. We restrategised and brought Jess into the team. I couldn’t be more proud of us and we’ve got an Olympic podium.”

Barker added:

“It’s amazing. It’s been pretty phenomenal really. It just shows what’s possible as a mum in sport, and what's actually quite normal now in sport. I’m very proud of the whole team and we all have our own stories at how we got here. It's been a short, mental Olympic cycle. I’m so glad we managed to pull it together at the end.”

Men’s individual sprint

Hamish Turnbull and Jack Carlin started their individual campaigns in the men’s sprint, with both qualifying for tomorrow’s quarter-finals.

Turnbull was the first Brit up for the men’s individual sprint flying 200m, clocking a time of 9.346 to qualify in seventh place. Carlin broke his own new British record with a time of 9.247 to qualify in fifth. 

Carlin eased through his first heat against Tyler Rorke (Canada) but had a closer fight with Cristian David Ortega Fontalvo (Colombia) to make it to the 1/8 finals. The Scotsman had a tough battle against Nicholas Paul (Trinidad and Tobago), but his skilful ride saw him take the edge, winning in a photo finish to go through to the quarter-finals.

Turnbull had a slightly more challenging journey to the quarter-finals, beating Yu Zhou (China) in his first heat before losing to Mohd Azizulhasni Awang (Malaysia) to go into the repechages. Luckily, the Brit managed to hold on, winning his heat against Lithuania’s Vasilijus Lendel, and taking it to a photo finish against Mikhail Yakovlev (Israel) to win by a thousandth of a second. 

Women’s keirin

Katy Marchant and Emma Finucane both qualified for tomorrow’s quarter-finals in the women’s keirin.

Marchant lined up as the fourth rider in the women’s opening keirin heat alongside home favourite Mathilde Gros (France) and world champion Ellesse Andrews (New Zealand). Andrews took to the front as the derny left the track, with Marchant holding her position in fourth. Gros made her move to the front, with Marchant following suit and dropping in behind Andrews to be in third position. Coming into the final lap, the three riders were clearly the strongest, crossing the line in a photo finish. Marchant just missed out on the top two qualification spots, but rode a controlled repechage to make it to the quarter-finals.

Finucane faced another home favourite in Taky Marie Divine Kouame (France) and European champion Lea Sophie Friedrich (Germany) in her heat, taking the win after a storming last lap.

The 13th day of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games will see medals up for grabs in the women’s keirin, while the men's individual sprint continues. Ethan Hayter will kick off his individual campaign in the men’s omnium.

You can watch on Discovery+ or BBC from 11:45 BST and follow the results on the British Cycling social media channels.