GREAT Britain’s track cyclists are in bullish mood and hope to win further medals after the men’s sprint team stormed to a gold medal on the opening night of the World Championships. But rather than Chris Hoy, it was Jason Queally, who was left out of the sprint trio at last summer’s Athens Olympic Games, who wore the broadest smile as he celebrated his first world title.

Queally was dropped in favour of Craig MacLean during the qualifiers in Athens, a decision that unsettled the trio and led to their elimination from the sprint final.

In the Carson velodrome on Thursday night, Queally proved his point. The Lancastrian’s years of experience, Jamie Staff’s explosive acceleration and Hoy’s sustained power overwhelmed the Netherlands to clinch Team GB’s first medals of the championships.

“This will never make up for an Olympic medal,” David Brailsford, the team manager, said, “but I told the riders a couple of nights ago that we had unfinished business here. The team sprint was probably the biggest issue. We wanted to make amends for what happened in Athens. This is the best way.”

Gold medals at leading championships have become almost routine for this squad, but Brailsford, who took the difficult decision to drop Queally in Athens, linked the squad’s progression to the 34-year-old’s breakthrough, at the Sydney Olympics in 2000.

“I couldn’t be happier for Jason,” Brailsford said. “He’s been a massive contributor to the success of this team over the last six or seven years. He started it all off in Sydney. That gold medal was a catalyst for a change in level of performance.” Queally, who some expected to retire from racing after Athens, has set his sights on the Beijing Games in 2008.

“To be world champion is awesome,” he said, “but the pinnacle of what we do is the Olympics.”

Even as he clutched his gold medal, Queally admitted that the decision taken in Athens still rankled. “Absolutely,” he said. “Now I’m looking at Beijing. I’ve got a few ghosts to lay to rest there. That’s what I’m living for. Most people thought I’d retire after Athens, but I have some unfinished business.”

The trickle-down of knowhow after Queally’s Olympic success in Sydney is personified by Ed Clancy, 20, a graduate of British Cycling’s Olympic Academy, who will make his World Championships debut today in the team pursuit.

“Ed has come through our programme over the past few years, since he was 14 or so,” Brailsford said. “We have five young riders coming through the system with possibilities for Beijing and Ed is one of them. If he keeps developing as he has, he’ll be there.”

Clancy will be a key rider in the opening qualifiers for today’s team pursuit, in which Team GB are hoping finally to achieve a victory over Australia. “They haven’t made a flying start, but we have, which is interesting,” Brailsford said. “The racing so far has made me more optimistic for the team pursuit.”